No More Drama
by mim
Summary: Brian and Mia are getting married, it's been 2 years since the heists and Dom and Letty have broken up but old feeling resurface.COMPLETE


The Wedding Planner  
  
Warm, sunny days are the best for weddings. Cool and cloudy was the weather for Mia and Brian's wedding. It would still be a beautiful wedding though, if the groomsmen ever got out of the locked basement in the garage, or if a salon could dye the bridesmaids hair back to their original color. Yes, then it would still be a beautiful wedding. It's not as if the wedding party had always been this out of control, they just seemed to choose now to exhibit this kind of behavior. The Maid of Honor and Best Man may have been the saving grace of the whole situation, if anyone knew where they were. The day before had proved to be very interesting and the turning point of the entire event.  
  
The duties of a maid of honor are not simple or easy. She must be ready to jump at the bride's command and still look happy to do it. That's especially not easy when the maid of honor is Letty. But determined to do a good job, she had woke up at 6:00 AM and was at the Toretto house by 6:30 to help Mia start getting ready for the rehearsal brunch. Letty was Mia's closest and oldest friend and actually her only real girlfriend. So she was a natural choice for maid of honor, but she also had a way of thinking of everything. She was organized, demanding, and paid attention to details, which is exactly what Mia needed. After setting up for the brunch, Letty called around to make sure all the bridesmaids would make it to the church on time for the rehearsal. Then she made the same call to all the groomsmen, and lastly she called the Best Man.  
  
Dominic Toretto is the sort of Best Man that every guy wants; he's a man's man, irresistible to women, and completely loyal to his boys. He is also the kind of Best Man that every woman is afraid of, he finds trouble, takes risks, and attracts the "wrong kind" of women. Dom figured that since he had to be at the church for the rehearsal at 9:30 AM, he could wake up at 9:00. It only took him 10 minutes to get to the church and he wanted to rest up for tonight's bachelor party. His pleasant slumber was interrupted by his cell-phone ringing on the nightstand right by his bed. Groggily, he answered it only to find out that Letty had decided to be his wake up call at 8:15 AM. She is way too into this wedding planner shit, he thought as he pulled the covers back over his head. At the rehearsal, Dom and the groomsmen laughed and joked about the upcoming bachelor party and couldn't wait to see the surprise on Brian's face. The rehearsal went by fast and brunch was great. Dom found it was pretty funny that Letty was going crazy about what Kara had done to her hair, personally he liked it. He always thought his cousin should get in touch with her wild side, being to bookwormish wasn't good for the soul. But he had always liked girls that were a little on the wild side, and the stripper he had ordered for the party was just that. He knew that Brian was going to flip when he found out that the Bachelor party was going to be in the basement of the church. Letty could not believe that Kara had done this. Kara was a quiet, shy, and very reserved girl who never did anything crazy. She was the cousin that Mia and Letty always had to force just to get out of the house during the summer just to go see a movie. When she walked into the rehearsal almost bawling, Letty knew that this would be something very hard to fix. As on one of the bridesmaids, Kara had to be at the rehearsal at 9:30 AM but didn't get there until the rehearsal actually started at 10:00. When she walked in everyone's mouths dropped at the sight of her tomato red hair. Kara almost immediately started crying when she saw everyone's reactions and fled to the restroom. Letty followed her and tried to calm her down and learn the reason why her once long, dark brown hair was now redder than a fire truck. Letty felt really awful after she heard Kara's sob story. Apparently she had gone to a stylist wanting to cut one inch off her hair and had somehow been persuaded to try a new hair color that would bring out her "natural tones and highlights". The new color was a bit of a dramatic change, but looked good, and the salon gave her a free bottle of color enhancer to use as shampoo so that her color wouldn't fade. The bottle they gave her was the wrong one, and had reacted badly with her color treatment. After seeing the horrific results, Kara read the bottle and saw that it was a color enhancer for red hair. Letty couldn't be mad at her but she was very stressed because her red hair would look hideous with the soft lavender gowns they were going to wear in the wedding. Letty gently told Kara that she would take her to a salon the morning of the wedding and get the color fixed and her hair done nicely to go with the dress. As everyone headed out to the rehearsal brunch, Letty was happily looking forward to the tame, mellow evening she had planned for the bachelorette party. Usually she would go all out for a night with the girls, but Mia was stressed out as it is. She just wanted to make sure everyone was well rested for the big event the next day, so she planned a night of sappy movies and girl talk. Both of which she hated but would endure just to keep Mia's nerves down. As she was distracted with thoughts of the party, Dom got up and gave a little speech about how this was the last day for Brian to be single. Completely inappropriate, thought Letty, but that was Dom. This is your sister and you're talking about ball and chain issues, good thing we never got married, she thought. That bachelor party of yours better be calm or he was going to have to answer to me for it, she silently warned. Letty and Dom had gone out for four years but she realized two years ago that they would never work out in the end. He would never grow out of the macho attitude that had first drawn her to him in the first place. She grew up in those four years, he hadn't. She knew she would always love him, the way everyone loves their first love. But it had been over two years since they broke up. They still tried to be friends for the Team's sake. But she was not going to let him ruin this special event for Mia. Once Letty found a salon that could fix Kara's hair the wedding would be running smoothly again.  
  
The groomsmen and other male guests had agreed to meet at the church at 7:00 PM. Dom got there at 7:15 and found Vince, and Leon already setting up for the party in the basement. Self-starters, I like that, Dom thought to himself. He had run late because of a cute girl he had seen at the supermarket when he had stopped to get the beer. By the time Brian had gotten the mysterious phone call to meet him in the basement of the church, it was 7:45 and most of the guests were on their second round of drinks. Brian was surprised and a little embarrassed because he knew that in less than 24 hours he would be getting married just upstairs from where they were partying. When there was a knock at the door half the room gasped. Thinking for sure they were busted, one of the Leon opened the door. Luckily it was the pizza girl, she was dressed a little flimsy for a pizza delivery person and she was very pretty. To everyone's surprise, Vince hit the music and all of the sudden the pizza girl became the stripper girl! Brian's eyes got big and a huge smile appeared on his face. The party had officially gotten interesting!  
  
Letty was ready to just kick back and relax, maybe order some pizzas, and be stress free for the evening. But when Vince's girlfriend Sira came into the hotel room in tight leather pants and an even tighter top, it was clear that relaxing was not on her mind. Sira was also a bridesmaid and had decided that she wasn't letting Mia's last night of freedom be swallowed up by girly movies and facials. No way, Letty thought, no way are we going out to a club and getting drunk and coming in late and tired, just to wake up early and hung over, no way. But Letty was outnumbered, Mia wanted to let loose on her last night as a single woman, and Kara wanted to drink her hair troubles away. After some karaoke singing and dollar shooters, the girls decided they had had enough and called it an early night. Back at the hotel Sira slipped into the shower while everyone else was watching television. Letty quickly whipped her head around when she heard a scream from the bathroom. Mia, Kara, and Letty rushed to the bathroom door, but when they got there it was too late. Sira came out with orange hair. She quickly and sobbingly explained that she just reached for a shampoo and had already used it and rinsed it before she noticed the label on the bottle was hair color enhancer. Letty had to sit down, for this to happen to one bridesmaid was bad luck, but for this to happen to two of them was disastrous. Letty only prayed that they could find a salon that was open early on a Saturday and could somehow fix their hair.  
  
That was an amazing show thought Dom. After the stripper/pizza girl left, Dom instructed the guys to start packing up the chairs. He wanted Brian to get to bed at a decent hour; after all, they did have a wedding to go to the next morning. Brian and Dom carried the tables into the basement closet and left the door open for Vince and Leon to carry the last of the chairs in there too. When he heard the door slam, Dom didn't even have to turn around to know what had happened. Great, he thought, it's midnight and the groomsmen are locked in a closet with a steel door and no key. There was no way a maintenance man will come here at this time of night and calling the Priest was out of the question. The Priest didn't even know they were having the bachelor party down here. Dom decided to take Brian home so at least one of them would get some sleep and after he dropped him off he went to the hotel room the girls had rented so they could all stay together the night before the ceremony. When Letty opened the door her face was an expression of both surprise and disgust. Happy to see you too, Dom thought, but better not start a fight and say it out loud. He couldn't help but laugh a little when he saw the orange-headed Sira standing behind her. Vince is gonna die when he sees her, he thought. He was still laughing when Letty pushed him out the door so they could talk outside. After he told her the situation she said she would get dressed and meet him at his car. She sounded like she had a plan so he agreed.  
  
As if the night needed more complications, Letty thought, now going to an all-night locksmith is next on the list. If this town had all-night salons then her night would be complete. Running out to the car she noticed the strange look that Dom gave her and tried to explain that she just decided to put on the clothes that she wore to the club. She told him the directions to the nearest locksmith and wondered why all-night places were always in the worst parts of town.  
  
Well, with her looking this hot; Dom thought on their way to the locksmith, it should get us fast and friendly service. When they pulled into the parking lot Letty got out of the car and went to the entrance but no one seemed to be there. Great, Dom thought, the other place is across town and the Vince and Leon have been locked in that closet for an hour and a half already. Feeling a migraine coming on he rubbed his bald head. Letty walked over to the driver side window and asked him if he had a better idea than the other locksmith across town. The sight of red lights gave him an instantly gave him a bad feeling. But before he could Letty could get in the car he realized who it was.  
  
Trans? Why are Trans down here in the valley, Letty wondered, immediately feeling uneasy. It's gonna be a long fucking night she heard Dom say under his breath. Lance Tran stepped of his bike and made his way toward her. Letty growled as he touched her cheek smiling. Some things never change she though, as she looked at his snakeskin pants.  
  
Well, at least now the entire grooms side of the wedding party will miss the wedding, Dom thought. There was no way he could fight the whole Tran gang and manage to get Letty and himself out alive. There was only one choice and he wasn't sure he should risk it in fact he knew he shouldn't but what other option did he have? They drove all the way to Chinatown to the Tran garage. At the starting line Letty watched as Dom got ready to race for their freedom. If he loses I'll have to deal with Lance myself, she thought as she silently watched Dom rev his engines. Suddenly memories of the past came flooding back like a tidal wave. Memories of victories and special moments shared under the hood of that car. But then also memories of heartache and the last time one of the team had raced a Tran. The pain was still there in her heart but it had faded from an uncontrollable rage to a quiet longing. Longing for better times and old friends. Letty could almost remember what it felt like to be in love with Dominic. These are the highest stakes I've ever raced for Dom thought as he loosened the knobs on his NOS tanks. He glanced quickly at Letty and then focused back at the quarter-mile of road in front of him. He remembered the last time Letty had watched him race. How did things between them get so fucked up, he wondered. At the sound of go he put all the bad shit behind him and concentrated on the race. As he sped by Letty he couldn't help but hope that after the race he could hold her again like he used to. Even if it was only for gratitude, even if it was only for a second. He knew right then and there he would give anything to hold her again. First I'm going to have to win, he thought as he neared the line. Just when Lance edged forward Letty heard Dom's NOS and said a silent prayer as he sped past the line half a second before Tran. He slowed and turned around and stopped right before her on the sidelines. His smile was infectious and as she jumped in the passenger seat she could hardly stifle a whoop and let one out at full force. Damn, I should race Trans more often, Dom thought, he couldn't remember the last time Letty was this happy with him. At 4:00 AM they were finally back in the valley. All Dom wanted was a cup of coffee. There was no rush to a locksmith because the earliest one didn't open until 7:00 AM. At the coffee house Letty fell asleep on Dom's shoulder and he fell asleep on against the wall of their booth. Dom's watch beeped at 8:30 AM and woke both of them up.  
  
Before rushing out of the coffee house Letty called Sira and Kara and told them which salon to go to for their hair emergencies, but failed to mention where she was all night. Dom thought they would never believe it even if she had told them. They then drove to the locksmith and got him to sneak into the church through the back entrance and unlock the Leon and Vince. Once free, Dom rushed them to the house where they all showered and changed, then rushed to pick up Letty at her hotel. Once back at the church they dodged everyone's questions about their whereabouts. As they walked down the aisle a few minutes later he smiled at her and she smiled back, Dom knew there was no one else he would rather have on his arm at that moment but Letty.  
  
Boys on the Side  
  
A reception in a hotel dining room is a classy touch for such a special day. The bride and the groom couldn't look any happier. The guests were all assembled and the celebration was about to begin. Only one minor problem, where were the maid of honor and the best man? And where had they been last night? Why did they keep avoiding everyone's questions? When are they going to give their toasts? Still, the dining room did look beautiful and would look even better when the entire wedding party was there.  
  
What am I doing, Letty thought to herself as she gathered up her floor length dress and walked quickly toward the banquet hall doors. Am I crazy, she asked herself, am I insane! She looked back to see Dom slinking out of the same corner she had been sneaking out of. With a huff she opened the door and felt everyone's eyes on her. Letty tried to smile big and at the same time realized she probably had no lipstick left on her lips. Letty walked up to the head table and sat down and the rest of the room seemed to go back to their own business. As soon as she felt the attention lift from her, she let her head fall on the table.  
  
This is the best day ever, thought Dom as he splashed some water on his face in the men's room outside the banquet hall. He smiled to himself, second time around is the charm, he thought. Suddenly Vince was standing behind him. After trying to explain to him that he wasn't avoiding the party he let V drag him to the banquet room. He wasn't trying to avoid the reception, he was trying to avoid the questioning stares. He really wanted things to work out this time with Letty, and the added pressure of the team wouldn't help. Plus, Dom wasn't sure that he could keep his hands off Letty if they were in the same room together. He hadn't been able to when they both went to the restrooms. Man, that was one hot kiss, he smiled again.  
  
Love, what a croc, Letty thought to herself as she listened to Dom's toast. What did he know about love? Trying not to let her face scowl at his words of trust and honesty, she thought; all you know about is lust, hormones, and speed, and those are the only things you understand. Why did I let him kiss me, she asked herself. As he finished up his toast, Letty rose from her seat and flashed her best smile without looking at Dom. In her toast she spoke of future happiness, growth as a couple, and the happy times that awaited them. When she was finished everyone cheered and the dancing started.  
  
Is she avoiding me, Dom asked himself as he looked thoughtfully at Letty dancing with Leon. No way, he quickly thought, no way, she still loves you, and she always will, who wouldn't. Well, if anyone wouldn't love him, it would be her, he thought, starting to doubt himself. Self- doubt was not a common trait in Dom. He was always very self-confident, sometimes to a fault. Letty had been in love with him since she was 10 years old, he knew it then but tried to discourage it. When she turned 16 though, he tried to encourage it. Almost overnight we became a couple, then four years later I fucked it up, he remembered. Taking Letty for granted had plagued Dom in the 2 yrs that they'd been apart, but now is my second chance he thought. Now I can show her how much I love her and need her.  
  
What is he staring at, Letty thought as she walked back to the table. Leon had already grilled her with questions about her and Dom and why they were acting strange. Letty insisted that they weren't acting any different than usual. Leon wasn't very convinced. And Dom standing there staring right at her didn't help. What did he think he was doing! Letty shook her head, just because I kissed you doesn't mean anything, idiot. Still, she thought, he does look kinda cute just standing there looking at me like a lost little puppy. Letty shook her head again and tried to forget how cute Dom was when his sensitive side came out. Not again Letty thought, I can't go through all his shit again. After saying rushed good bye's to a confused Mia, Letty was in the parking lot. But her getaway wouldn't be that easy. Soon she was surrounded by Sira, and Kara. The three decided to just get outta there. Sira was sick of Vince giving her shit about her hair emergency and Kara didn't like crowds anyway especially since most of the guests were from Brian's side. They didn't feel too bad ditchin the reception, Brian and Mia were gonna leave then too and the boys deserved to be left with the clean up shit. Once on the road it was a free for all bitching session. Sira complained about Vince and his 3-yr. old maturity level, while Letty told them the story of last night and of her lapse in judgment with Dom. Even Kara got into the spirit complaining about how she just wished the guys took her more seriously and stopped treating her like a little kid.  
  
You know it's one thing to just leave and not say goodbye, but it's a whole other thing to ditch clean-up responsibilities, Dom thought as he dragged himself to his car, exhausted. And she took the other girls too! If I was Vince, Dom thought to himself, I would be just as pissed at Sira. After driving to the house, Dom settled on the couch, to tired to even change. He leaned back and closed his eyes, till he heard a knock at the door.  
  
How did I get here, Letty questioned herself, how did I get so lost between Sira's house and my own apartment that I ended up here. When Dom answered the door he was obviously surprised to see her but definitely didn't look disappointed.  
  
Not Exactly a Honeymoon  
  
I shouldn't be here, Letty thought as she looked into Dom's eyes. But she was there, and Letty knew deep down in her heart that Dom was the one for her, but she didn't want to repeat history. As she walked in the door, a plan was slowly forming in her mind. I'm going to have to make him see he can't live without me, she thought.  
  
Dom smiled as she walked in. Playing it cool he sat across from her at the kitchen table after she rummaged around for something to eat. I'm just gonna lay all my cards out on the table for her, he thought. I'm gonna tell her I still love her, that I'm through being a selfish asshole and that I want to give it another try with her, he planned. But when he opened his mouth to speak all that seemed to come out was mundane shit about the garage and the wedding. Finally he blurted out that he missed Letty and that she was all he could think about.  
  
Acting surprised, but secretly satisfied, Letty thought, he still loves me, but this time I'm not gonna be the one powerless against him. Letty then proceeded to tell Dom that while she still cared for him, this whole thing was moving a little to fast for her, she was beginning to feel trapped and wanted some space. Then as quickly as she had gotten there, she left. On her way home she felt amazing. He won't ever take me for granted again or pull me into anymore bonehead stunts again. In her mind Letty had it all worked out, she just hoped Dom didn't attempt to grow a brain and try to manipulate her, because then the situation could get sticky and she just wanted her man back. Faithful, adoring and whipped, three words that she had never used to describe Dominic before.  
  
Leon and Vince were there almost right after Dom had called them. They only lived two houses down. Right away they started shoveling out the advice. Vince's opinion was that Letty was running game on him, she really did want him back, but he was going to have to work for it. Leon just kept saying, let it go and move on. Leon loved Letty like a sister but knew she could be a handful and personally he never liked the idea of having to work for a girl's affection. Dom just put his head in his hands and moaned about feelin like fool. He told the guys how he had told Letty that he missed her and was willing to work it out with her, then how she just cut him down and left. Sympathetic, Vince explained that Letty probably just didn't want him to have the power this time around, she wanted to be the one calling the shots. Sira is the same way, Vince pointed out. The key was to let her think that she was running the show while really, it was the other way around, Vince informed Dom.  
  
The next couple of days went by smoothly for Letty, she kept herself occupied in the garage office. She had taken over for Mia since she was off on her honeymoon. She never gave Dom the time of day and decided to maintain military silence, which was key in this war. After work she usually hung out with Kara who was still in town to cover the grocery store for Mia too. And Sira also came over, she was definitely in need of female company, sometimes V's testosterone level was just too much for her. It was on the fourth day of ignoring Dom that Letty ran into trouble.  
  
Turn the tables, Vince had said, and now I'm here in front of her door, why do I listen to Vince, Dom questioned himself. The past few days had been agonizing hell for him. Everyday he saw Letty at the garage, he was used to it, but now it was different. He had let his emotions show and she, in return, ignored him. Her silence had been driving him crazy. So he finally confessed to the guys that he needed help dealing with this situation and Vince had really come through for him. Being with Sira for the past year had really taught him some valuable lessons about women. Now he was going to try and flip the emotion over to her side, she deserved, he thought, especially after the crappy few days he had had.  
  
Letting Dom in was not part of Letty's master plan, but he was simply irresistible when he wanted to be. At first they just sat on her couch and he tried to put his arm around her and tried to get close to her, but she didn't give in. Then the conversation turned to what was going down at the shop. All of the sudden Dom was telling Letty about how good she was a handling the bookkeeping and how Mia always needed extra help. Then he said the words that set Letty off; Brian could replace you as a full-time mechanic when he comes back. Right then Letty was on her feet. Her face flushed, voiced raised and arms waving. Kicking Dom out of the apartment was my first smart move of the evening, Letty thought as she walked to her kitchen. I can't believe him, trying to make me Mia's assistant and take me out of the garage. Letty grabbed a pint of cookie dough ice-cream and sat on her counter top. If he thinks for one minute that Brian is replacing me, he is stupider than I thought.  
  
The next day at the shop Dom felt better than he had felt in a long time. He smiled at Vince and Leon as Letty walked in late to the back office. Vince walked over to Dom and congratulated him on a job well done. Leon smiled and nodded his approval. Dom thought to himself, now it's her turn to make a move. She'll probably surrender right after work he thought.  
  
A day later, Letty, Vince, and Leon went to Harry's to make a quick pick up on an order they had put in for a 97' eclipse. Letty decided that since Dom had gotten her pissed it was time that she made him jealous. In the past two years since their breakup Letty had dated only a couple of guys but she was always very careful not to throw them in Dom's face or force them on the team. But that kind of consideration was over. At Harry's Letty saw Hector, whom she hadn't talked to in a while. She went right up to him and kissed him on the cheek and gave him a hug that lasted just a second too long. Confused, Hector hugged back and complemented her on how great she looked. She talked to him a little longer as she noticed Vince and Leon staring at her. Let's see what Dom has to say about that, Letty smiled to herself as they drove back to the shop in silence.  
  
  
  
Two Can Play that Game  
  
  
  
Dom put his hands in his head as he listened to Leon and Vince ramble on about Letty and Hector. Letty and Hector, he questioned himself, what the hell was that about? Vince went on and on about how Hector was checking Letty out and how they were hugging like there was no one else in the room. It didn't help when Leon chimed in about how Letty kissed him on the cheek, Letty was never that sweet. Letty could be polite, sometimes, but never sweet to just anybody. But what if Hector wasn't just anybody to her, Dom thought. What if she was really into to him and that's why she asked me for space, Dom worried. Damn, he swore, there goes that self doubt again. What was wrong with him, he thought.  
  
Oh God, Letty thought while looking out the office window at the small cluster of Dom, Leon, and V. Could they be any more obvious, she chuckled to herself. They are worse gossipers than chicks she thought. Right away she was on the phone with Sira, she told her not to believe whatever crap Vince said about her and Hector, she was only being "extra nice" to stir up some reaction from Dom. Sira totally understood, having had similar situations with Vince. Sometimes you just gotta remind 'em how much they want you, and sometimes you can only do that by demonstrating that there are others who want you too, she responded. A 6pm the garage closed and Letty casually walked past the guys and headed for her car simply saying see ya tomorrow. She drove to the store and picked up Kara and met Sira at the mall. Letty and Sira had decided it was time to get Kara some new clothes, seeing her in flowered, floor length dresses everyday was getting on their nerves. While shopping Letty found two perfect temptation outfits to drive Dom crazy and Sira gave her the best idea to kick crazy up a notch to insane.  
  
It was 9pm when Dom saw the driveway flood with lights from a car. He got up and went to the door and just as he got there Kara raced past him carrying lots of shopping bags in each hand. Immediately he thought that Sira would be right behind her since she had called Vince on his cell and told him she was taking her shopping. He turned expecting to see Sira with just as many shopping bags, but was surprised when it was Letty.  
  
Letty just stood in the doorway making sure Dom could soak in her short dark denim skirt and skimpy, white, knit tank top that showed off her golden tan. Letty handed the one bag she had over to Dom and explained that Kara had forgotten it in the car. Calmly she then said that she understood if he wanted her to take over bookkeeping at the shop, she knew Mia would need all the time off she could take in order to finish med school. Just as she turned to walk away Dom asked her to come into the house so they could talk. This is too easy, Letty thought to herself as she pretended to hesitate. She walked in past Dom and looked up at him with her big brown eyes and apologized for yelling at him the other night and overreacting to his suggestion.  
  
She looks amazing, Dom said to himself over and over, as he listened to her apology. Dom interrupted her and apologized himself, saying that they would work something out so that she would still be doing mechanic work most of the time and then told her she was the best mechanic they had. As he said it, he couldn't help but lean in to kiss her.  
  
Letty was amazed with herself, her self-control and her self confidence. She drove home happy to know she had gotten the best of Dom. He was like a legendary hero to everyone, but she had broken down his defenses and made him whimper like a little puppy, she thought to herself on her drive home. Poor Dom she thought back to just a few minutes ago, there he is kissing me, caressing me, thinking he's gonna get a piece and then I mumble some flimsy excuse about not being ready and I'm out the door before he can get a word in. He's probably just sitting on the couch right now wondering what the hell just happened, she smiled to herself.  
  
What the hell just happened, Dom thought as he sat on his couch. Did Letty just come into my house, looking hot, being nice, and totally kissing me back, then just leave without making love to me, he questioned himself. That's not how I remember her being, she's was usually just as horny as me, he thought. Suddenly frustrated Dom grabbed his keys and headed toward the door, determined to be satisfied that night. Kara's call from upstairs was the only thing that held him back. Why would I want to look at a bunch of girly clothes when I could be out having sex, he wanted to tell her. But his cousin just looked so excited to show off her new wardrobe that he couldn't say no and ended up staying in with her the whole night just helping her put all the new clothes and shoes away. How pathetic am I he thought as he lay in bed by himself. Letty's got me climbing the walls and there's nothing I can do to about it, he thought. His last thought before drifting into a restless sleep was, Letty better not have run off to meet anyone else or my frustration will be taken out on his face.  
  
Was this a good idea, Letty wondered as she lay alone in her bed. If I had given in to my own temptation set-up I would be sleeping like a baby right now, but instead I'm still awake wondering what Dom is doing, she thought to herself. Well, we'll just see what happens tomorrow night at the races, she thought as she tried to sleep.  
  
Getting through work the next day was the hardest thing to do for Dom. He was short tempered and easily got pissed off at the littlest thing. Vince and Leon tried to settle him down but nothing worked. Vince finally told him, look just move on and hook up with someone else at the races, she'll get jealous and come running back to you and then you can make to choice of whether you want her or not. Dom tried to ask Vince if Letty had said anything to Sira about him, but Vince said that Sira had told him nothing, not a damn thing about Letty and it was beginning to piss him off because he knew she knew something. But Sira just tried to tell Vince to let them work it out for themselves, but V wasn't about to let his boy get messed around with, even if it was by Letty, who was also one of his best friends.  
  
Getting Kara ready for the races was actually fun, usually Letty hated spending too much time on clothes and hair, but this time Kara was the guinea pig, not her. Sira told Vince that she was riding with Letty and Kara and that he should find a ride with either Dom or Leon since his car was still at the garage and needed to be worked on more. He had reluctantly agreed. Sira laughed when she told Letty how Dom was grilling V for information on her and how V was starting to grill her. Leaving Letty's apartment and on their way to the designated meeting spot, Sira reminded Letty that Dom would probably try to make her jealous and not to worry or lose her temper because it was all a just a show for her benefit. Stepping out of the car, all three girls looked amazing and were drawing looks from the guys around them. But they were focused on only the guys in front of them stepping out Dom and Leon's cars. Vince didn't waste any time scooping Sira up in his arms and whispering in her ear how sexy he thought she looked. They scooted off to the side as Edwin made his way over to Letty and Kara. Edwin introduced himself to Kara and right away Leon intercepted him. He quickly led Edwin away to go stand with him, Hector and Dom. Getting right to the action, Letty thought to herself.  
  
Standing if front of Hector and Edwin, Dom just looked at them with a stone face. He told them in one direct statement that Toretto girls were off limits and they better remember that. He looked directly at Hector the as he said it. Confused, Hector just tried to get the races going. Dom didn't push away any of the chicks that came up and put their arms around him, he figured the more the better. But when he looked over at Letty he saw that she wasn't paying the least bit of attention to him but instead joking around with Kara and some other guy who was new to the races. Trying not to notice her not noticing him, he draped his arm around one of the girls and told her to ride with him to the racing spot.  
  
Oh God, thought Letty as she drove with Kara and Sira to the racing spot, now Dom's going to have to sanitize his passenger seat after that ho sits in it. He's gonna have to try harder than that to make me jealous, that girl has only been with every other racer here, she thought. Still, he better not get too comfortable with her, Letty tried to put on a happy face in front of Sira, she didn't want her know that she was bothered by Dom's little performance. As they got set in their spots to watch the race between Dom, Hector, Edwin, and some other guy they didn't know very well, Letty secretly hoped that Dom would win.  
  
At the word go, Dom's head cleared, he was doing what he was born to do now. Racing was in his blood and right now his blood was boiling with excitement. As he edged forward, he could hear his own heart pumping and it felt like home. Dom knew his main competition was Edwin but didn't think about him as he passed the finish line just a split second in front of him. Damn, he thought as he stopped to catch his breath, he's getting better. As he got out of his car, the girls gathered and a wad of cash was thrust into his hands. He stayed and laughed and bullshitted with the people that had incircled him for a minute then got in his car and drove back to the house for the victory party.  
  
Letty hung out at the party and did her best to stomach Dom's flirting but was finding it more and more difficult. Finally a distraction came up when Sira came and got Letty from her hiding place in the kitchen claiming emergency. Sira quickly pulled Letty into the downstairs bathroom. After telling her that she just saw Kara pop an ecstasy pill, Letty put her head against the wall and mumbled about how Dom was going to kill Kara and then Mia would kill him for letting it happen. Sira told Letty they could prevent all that if they could just get her out of the house without anyone seeing. First we need to get to her Letty thought, as she stepped out of the bathroom into the crowd of usual drunks. Sira led them around the hallway and into Jesse's old room that was now used for storage and they saw two guys in there with Kara dancing to no music. Busting up their little party, Letty quickly kicked them out and Sira grabbed hold of Kara. Peeking her head out of the doorway, Letty quickly pulled it back in after seeing Leon on the other end of the hall. Well a kitchen escape is out of the question, Letty thought closing the door to the room. Thinking out loud, Sira said, "We're going to have to go out the window." "Are you kidding, she can barely stand!" Letty replied. They were silent for a minute, then Letty said, "Okay, but I'll go out first and catch her on the way down." Letty forced the window open and climbed out, it wasn't a far jump down, but still, she hoped Kara could wouldn't fall to hard on her. Slowly she saw Kara emerge from the window and with a thud she landed on her feet but fell back on Letty, who was luckily able to catch her. Sira climbed out of the window but wasn't so lucky. Cursing under her breath because of her ripped shirt, Sira dragged Kara out to Letty's car and climbed in the back with her. Letty was about to get into the driver side when she saw Vince on the porch looking around, she quickly ducked and whispered to Sira to duck too, but it was too late. V spotted Letty and waved her over, but she just yelled out, "I'm going home, I'll see you tomorrow at the shop!" and the girls sped off in her car.  
  
"Ok everyone, get the hell out!" Dom yelled in a booming voice. As soon as Vince told him that Letty had left the party and he couldn't find Sira anywhere, all Dom wanted was for the party to be over. As the party started to disperse, Leon came into the living room with news of his own. "Dom I can't find Kara anywhere!" Leon told Dom across the room waiting for people to get out of his way. "Shit!" Dom said, "They're all somewhere together probably. I'm going to check Letty's, Vince why don't you go to Sira's? K." "What's the big deal Dom? So they left early, it's cool." Leon said plopping on the sofa and turning on the T.V. "The big deal is that Kara lives here Leon, why would she leave? And without saying good bye, you know that ain't like her." Dom replied getting agitated. "Sira never leaves without saying good bye, something's wrong with this picture dawg." Vince added, getting his car keys. "Well if they're all together then let's just look for them all together." Leon said. "Letty left on her own though." Dom said. "That don't mean they didn't meet up some where, look, I'll drive and you guys ride wit me." Leon replied in a tired voice.  
  
Letty pulled into the Toretto Grocery Store parking lot and tried to help Sira help Kara out of the car. They had decided this was the best place to hang out in case the guys decided to go looking for them. Letty just prayed that Kara would come down within a couple of hours. Kara started twirling around in the street and moving to music that wasn't playing . Sira quickly grabbed her and pulled her into the store behind Letty, and searched around for the light. What the fuck, Letty thought out loud. There was Lance Tran and two of his goons standing in the store with guns pointed right at them, and the store trashed. Standing silent Sira, Kara, and Letty just looked at each other. Getting over the initial shock of Trans in the Toretto shop, Letty found her voice. "Exactly what the fuck do you think you guys are doing?" She said in a calm voice. Lance just smiled an slick smile and told her that if he couldn't beat Toretto, he might as well destroy everything around him.  
  
"Bro turn around, I think I just saw Letty's car at the store." Leon put his car in reverse and backed up. "Yeah , but what the hell is she doing there?"  
  
  
  
There's a History There  
  
Dom caught on to the fact that things weren't okay right away and instructed V and Leon to go around the back door and he'd walk in the front. After stepping out of the car and walking closer to the store, he knew what was going down. He saw the Trans and cursed under his breath. He casually walked up to the store looked around and said, "Hey why wasn't I invited to this little party?" The girls turned in surprise and he just proceeded past them right into Lance Tran's face. "Maybe because you couldn't handle the competition." Dom said in an even voice. As he backed off V and Leon came from behind the back hall and knocked the other Tran goons on the heads with baseball bats. The goons fell to the floor unconscious and as Lance turned to see what happened, Dom pulled him into a headlock and grabbed his gun and threw it to Vince. "I don't get you Tran, it's not enough that can beat you with anything on wheels but now you have to come down to my block just to get the shit kicked outta ya too!" He said to Lance as he squirmed trying to get out of Dom's headlock. "I don't know about you Lance but I think this puts a serious kink in our relationship, you come in here and threaten my cousin, my girl and best friend's girl? Did you really expect to walk outta here, or did you know that you'd be crawlin'?" Dom continued. "Fuck you!" Lance mumbled, starting to turn purple. "Wrong answer Lance." Dom smiled and lifted up his head and pushed him toward Vince who slammed him with the bat in the stomach. Vince, Leon and Dom took their guns and drug them out to the back.  
  
"Ohmygod! I can't believe that just happened." Whispered Sira as she collapsed onto one of the stools. Letty just shook her head and grabbed Kara's arm and pulled her toward her car. Giggling, Kara climbed into the back seat, Letty told her to stay there and if she got sick to lean out the window. Letty walked back into the store and started to clean up, telling Sira that Mia couldn't know about this because she'd freak.  
  
Dom sped in Leon's car with the Trans in the backseat and at the edge of Chinatown he tossed them on the curb. He drove back to the store and finally let sink in the reality of the situation. The girls could have been in serious danger, the Trans were unpredictable and anything could have happened. Why were the Trans there anyways, for that matter, why were the girls there, why were they all in one car if V saw Letty leave alone, why did they leave without saying anything, why did he call Letty his girl, these questions plagued Dom on the drive back. When he got back Leon and Vince told them that they got rid of the Tran bikes and were going to go help clean up the store. Good, he thought, cause Mia would freak if she knew what had just went down, Dom thought. When they walked into the store Sira and Letty were almost done with putting it back in order, but some things would have to be replaced. Standing right in front of Letty as she cleaned up some spilt soda he asked, "Why didn't you say you were leaving the party, and why did you come here, and where's Kara?" in one frustrated breath.  
  
"Well Dom I didn't realize you were my parole officer, sorry I didn't check out. Kara's in the car asleep." Letty snapped back. "Don't start with me Letty, tell me why you left without telling anyone anything." Dom pressed. "I told Vince." She replied. "Bullshit Letty, we wouldn've even known you were gone if I hadn't seen you leavin'. And why didn't you say something Sira? You get pissed when I pull that shit, what makes you so special?" Vince spoke up. "It's been a long night Vince, let's just go home okay." Sira said tiredly as she put the broom away. And walked toward Leon's car. Vince followed still yelling that she better explain shit to him. Leon shrugged and followed them, and told Letty to give Dom and Kara a ride home. Letty looked at Dom and then turned and walked to her car. After a silent ride to the Toretto house, Letty carried Kara inside herself in case she woke up and was still flyin'. She then took the long way home to clear her head. When she finally got home and walked up the steps to her apartment, she knew Dom was there even before she saw him, it had always been that way, she could sense him. Not even lifting her head to look at him she said, "It's been a long fucking night, Dom. So just say what you got to say and go." She walked past him and unlocked her door.  
  
"Look Letty," Dom started as he walked past her into her apartment, "Ever since the wedding things between us have been more fucked up than usual. I told you how I felt and you dismissed it like it was nothing, when you know how hard it is for me to talk about my feelings. Then you come over and practically jump my bones and then leave, then go off and flirt with any guy around with a motor. What the fuck kind of games are you running here Let. Cause I'll tell you one thing, I'm getting sick of it!" Dom continued, "An that shit that went down tonight? What the fuck was up with you taking off? Serious shit coulda gone down if we hadn't shown up, but you shouldn't have been there in the first place. I don't give a fuck if the Trans bust up the store, but all three of you were in danger the minute you walked in there." She just stared back at Dom in shock at all he had said. He wasn't surprised, this is probably the longest conversation we've ever had about our relationship, he thought to himself as tried to catch his breath. He sat down on her couch and put his head in his hands. He thought back to when she broke up with him two years ago and wondered why he hadn't had this talk with her then. He had thought she just needed some time to herself after the accident to heal both emotionally and physically. He had decided not to put up a fight, to give her the space she needed. Dom never thought that they wouldn't get back together with in a few months. But a few months turned into a year and by then things had settled into a quiet routine between the two of them. She stopped going to his races and stopped coming around the house so much, usually Mia went over to her place. They had kept their distance but were still civil. After another year had past he had just chosen to forget that there was a relationship there to begin with.  
  
Letty looked at Dom as he sat quiet for a moment. She tried to think of something to say in response, but watching him sit there all stressed just made her wonder what he was thinking. When she had broken up with him he had hardly said a word about it, he definitely didn't try to stop her from moving out of the Toretto house, a place that had been her home since she was ten years old. So she had just assumed that it was what he wanted too. Since there was no discussion she had been left with a lot of questions unanswered. But with Jesse's death, Vince's injury, and Brian's expulsion from the police force, there had been other things to deal with. Moving into her own place had been hard at first, but she got used to it. Mia was over often and so was Leon and when Vince and Sira started dating she had gotten to know her and she started hanging out there more too. But she couldn't remember Dom ever being there, in fact Letty was kind of surprised that Dom even knew which apartment was hers. "So what's the deal Letty?" Dom said bringing Letty out of her thoughts. "There's no deal Dom, I do what I want when I want, with whoever I want." Letty replied, instantly putting her guard back up. This just frustrated Dom more. "If that's the way you want it then fine." Dom stood up to leave. "Fine." Letty answered back. "Fine." Dom walked out the door without closing it. "Fine! And learn some fuckin' manners Dom!" Letty yelled as she closed the door to her apartment.  
  
  
  
Nothing Like a Good Barbeque  
  
Mia rang Letty's doorbell again, but there was still no answer. She almost always gets up for church, Mia thought as she started to bang on the door. Then Mia turned and Letty was behind her, all sweaty from a long run. As they hugged and squealed in surprise of one another, Letty opened the door and they went and talked in the kitchen. Mia told Letty about her wonderful honeymoon and all the cool stuff they did and how Brian got sunburned on their last day in Acapulco and that Dom made fun of him first thing this morning. At the mention of Dom's name Letty's face changed, and Mia noticed it. "What's going on with you two, when I mentioned that I was coming over to see you he got that same expression on his face. I thought something had happened at the wedding and now I know it did. What?" Mia asked. Letty told Mia everything that had happened while she was gone. Mia listened intently and couldn't believe it. She had given up hope on those two. But now that she saw some spark was left, she wasn't about to let it go out just because they were both the two most stubborn people in the world.  
  
"Well it's no wonder why games didn't work with Dom, he has no sense of subtlety, he's too used to girls falling all over themselves to get to him. Playing mind games don't work because then he starts doubting himself and that makes him angry. And you know that you can't reason with Dom when he's angry. Being real and sincere are what get him, he's more sensitive than you would think.." Mia told Letty. Letty nodded in agreement. She had no idea what to do now. She had gone on a long run to clear her head but talking about everything that had happened just brought all that stuff back. Letty kept trying to figure out why she just hadn't told him last night how she felt, instead she had just antagonized him and caused more tension.  
  
Dom couldn't help but still chuckle at Brian, his sunburn was almost as funny as when both Kara and Sira had accidentally dyed their hair orange. Vince and Leon aren't gonna be too nice about it either, Dom thought to himself. Dom got up and started taking steaks and chicken out of the fridge to start to marinate. Sunday barbeque was a tradition of sorts and this one would be big because Mia and Brian had just gotten back from their well-deserved honeymoon. His thoughts drifted to Letty, would she be there, will she tell Mia about everything that had happened, how will it be the next time we see each other, he asked himself. All of the sudden Brian was yelling at him to stop pouring the barbeque sauce because he was spilling it all over the counter. "Get your mind off Letty or just let me marinate the meat" Brian said with his usual half-smile. "I don't know lobster boy, you don't even know how to rub sun block on, what makes you think you can pour barbeque sauce any better?" Dom replied trying to change the subject. "Because I won't be thinking about the lost love of my life, you see, I married the love of my life." Brian answered. "You don't know what your talking about Bri. Letty and me are done, it's been two years for Christ's sake!" Dom covered the meat and put it in the fridge for later. "Then why can't you stop thinking about her?" Brian followed him out to the garage. "I don't want to talk about this Bri." Dom suddenly got serious as he sat on his old weight bench. "Ok, but how do you expect to get her back if your not willing to even talk about it?" Brian asked. Dom looked at Brian and relplied, "Since when did you become my relationship counselor faggot!" and laughed. "Bro, I'm just sayin that chicks talk about everything and it helps, that's why they're always one step ahead of us. I guarantee you that's what Letty and Mia are doing right now." Brian replied, shaking his head. Giving it some though, Dom decided he should just tell him now since secrets were never kept long in this team anyways.  
  
At 11:30 Mia and Letty walked into the house and unpacked some of the last minute groceries they had had to pick up. A couple of minutes later Sira and Vince showed up and Vince went straight to the garage where he knew Dom and Brian would be, Sira went upstairs to rush Kara and get her downstairs. As Kara came down the stairs, Leon walked in the front door, he sorta smiled at her and Sira and then rushed to the backdoor barely yelling a hi to Mia and Letty in the kitchen. Not even a hug hello for Mia, Letty thought to herself, I wonder what's got him all jumpy. As the four girls made various side dishes they all talked about Letty's situation. When Mia suggested that Letty take the meat out to the garage to tell Dom and the guys to start grilling it, Letty looked at her like she was crazy. Mia reminded her that she was going to have to come into contact with Dom at some point. "Plus it will show him that you're not going to hide from him." She added as she pushed Letty out of the kitchen door. As Letty walked out to the garage with the pans of steaks and chicken in her hands she wondered to herself why she was so nervous about seeing Dom. As soon as she walked into the garage and he sat up from his bench press with no shirt on, she exhaled slowly and remembered. If he does this shit on purpose, just to try and get to me, well it's working, she thought. "Mia says it's time to start the grill." Letty said with an even tone, not taking her eye off of Dom. "Ok, no problem" he replied as he walked over and took the pans of meat from her. She walked back to the house and could only hope he didn't see how hard she was staring at him. At the kitchen door she turned around and said, "Hey Bri, red is a nice color on you!" she laughed as she walked inside the kitchen. Mia gave her a "leave him alone" look, but she was laughing too.  
  
Man, even Letty's ragging on Bri, he's like a big red target today, Dom laughed. Letty, what am I going to do about her, Dom thought to himself. He really didn't think she was going to show up. But Mia is her best friend, plus she's become close to Sira and Kara lately, Dom thought. It's gonna be hard to stay away from her, but I'm just gonna have to do it, Dom thought, determined. Dom was trying to focus his attention on the grill when Leon walked up to him. "Hey dawg, how's it goin?" Leon said kind of in a low voice. "Good, I guess we'll be eating in about 30 or 45 minutes" Dom replied. "Listen, can I ask you about something?" Leon said. "Sure man, what's up?" Dom turned toward Leon. Looking at him, he could see that something was on his mind. "Well bro, I know this guy and he really likes this girl. He's been trying not to like her but he can't help it. He's known her for a really long time but he can't bring himself to take their friendship to the next level because he's afraid she's gonna reject him." Leon said in a low voice so that no one else around could hear. Dom looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. Leon continued, "So I wanna help this guy out because I know he really cares about this chick and I know you know about chicks and stuff. So what would you do?" Knowing where he was going with this Dom said, "Look dawg, if your trying to get me to 'open' up about Letty and me, forget it. Our relationship is just fine at the level where it's at. Things might of happened last week but you don't know the whole story. And I really don't want to talk about it anymore." Leon looked at him with a confused look and shook his head. "Nah man, I'm not even talking about you and Letty, whatever you want to do there is your business." Leon replied. "Hell ya it's my business," Dom said, "Between you and O'Connor I'm really not going to be able to forget about her. Did you ever think that maybe I did try to get back with her and she decided that we shouldn't. But she still has to hang around and shit. And did she have to come today, especially wearing those short shorts and tube top. I mean does she have to try and get to me like that!" Dom's whisper got louder with every sentence. "Bro, calm down!" Leon said. "I don't think she's here just to try and get to you man. And I don't think that Brian and I are the reasons why you can't forget about Letty, dawg." Leon walked back to the table and grabbed a corona for himself and Dom. "Here ya go man, try not to loose your cool like that in front of her." Leon said with an amused look on his face. "It ain't funny man." Dom said with a growl.  
  
  
  
Don't Loose Your Cool  
  
  
  
The barbeque went the same as always, food, fun and cleanup. There was light-hearted talk about the wedding and the honeymoon. Everyone was happy that the team was back together and things could settle into a routine again. Nobody mentioned what had happened the night before. Leon, Vince, Dom and Brian played some basketball while Kara and Mia did the dishes inside and Letty and Sira cleaned up the table outside. After cleaning up all the trash outside, Letty and Sira sat on the bench and watched the guys play around. Quickly the discussion turned to how the guys were just as immature as they day they'd met. Sira told Letty how Vince whined and whined last night because she wouldn't tell him why they had left the party early, then he sulked all morning long until she seduced him into some morning nookie. Letty laughed and told Sira that she used to do that with Dom too, whenever he was pissed with her. Then she told Sira some old stories about how mean Dom and Vince used to be to her when she was younger and always tagging along after them. Sira laughed and told Letty about the first time Vince said 'I love you'. "He jumbled it up so bad that I didn't even know what he was talking about!" Sira said laughing. Then she explained that Vince had tried to use an analogy about the love of his car and how he put a lot of work into it and when he noticed that she wasn't getting it, he switched gears to how winning a race was like the way he felt about working on his car and was somehow related to how he felt about her. "After a while I caught on to what he was trying to say and I had to say it first just so he wouldn't have a stress attack from getting so frustrated that he couldn't get the words out right!" Sira told her. They sat there laughing, comparing stories about the guys and how they rarely seemed to get things right when it came to girls. After awhile Mia and Kara joined them and laughed at all the memories that they brought up.  
  
Tired and very sweaty, Dom and the guys walked over to the girls at the picnic table. It's really nice to see Letty smile, Dom thought to himself. Instantly his next thought was, push that outta your mind! They bullshitted with the girls for a few minutes before Sira decided to drag V home. It wasn't hard for her to convince him, Dom thought, he is whipped pretty bad. Mia and Brian were off to their room pretty quickly after that. Then Kara went to Letty's and Dom promised her he'd pick her up there later. When Leon and Dom were in the living room by themselves Dom remembered something about his conversation with Leon earlier. "Hey Leon, when we were talking earlier, if you weren't talking about me then who were you talking about?" Dom asked. "Uh, um . . . just a guy I know." Leon answered without looking up from the T.V. and started fidgeting a little on the couch. "I know every guy you know, who is it?" Dom persisted. "Don't worry about it Dom" Leon answered. "I'm not worried man, just seems you're not telling me the whole story" "Ok, look, it's me. I like this chick and I don't know what to do about it. But don't ask who it is 'cause I'm not telling ya." Leon scowled and turned his attention back to the T.V. "Whoa bro, are you in high school or somethin'? This girl must really have you sprung if you're being all that secretive about it." Dom said jokingly. Then he leaned back and thought for a minute, trying to figure out who it was. "Wait a minute Leon. Is it Letty? Oh God Leon, it better not be Letty, 'cause if it is get ready for me to kick your ass!" Dom stood up to face Leon. "NO! Damn Dom, of course it's not Letty! You have got to get a grip brotha!" Leon exclaimed, standing up too. "Letty has really gotten inside your head man. You need to tell her. That's all there is to it, you can't keep walking around so paranoid about her!" Leon said.  
  
"Guys what is going on down here?" Brian said as he came down the stairs to the living room. "Dom is completely sprung over guess who and is taking it out on everyone else!" Leon answered. Dom just sat down on the couch and rubbed his head looking almost ashamed for yelling at Leon. What is going on with me, he asked himself. Why didn't I just try to get Letty back last night, he wondered. Then he remembered how she had aggravated him, and sighed deeply. Will it ever work out with her, he asked himself.  
  
Close But Not Really  
  
Kara and Letty sat on Letty's bed as Letty lectured Kara about her experiment with x-tacy. Kara sat there and listened but tried to explain to Letty how she felt like she was just this child that everyone got stuck babysitting. Kara thanked her for looking out for her and not telling Mia and Dom but reminded her that she was twenty years old and not a baby. The conversation slowly turned to the subject of Dom and Letty. Letty told Kara about how things used to be since Kara was living in Northern California when her and Dom were together. Girl talk was interrupted by a call from Mia's cell phone, she got some good news. Dom is totally stressing out about us too, Letty whispered to Kara while on the phone. Mia told her everything she had heard from a top the stairs and for once, Letty appreciated Mia's noseyness. Thank God I'm not the only one stressing, thought when they hung up.  
  
Dom sat in his car in front of Letty's apartment at 10pm, wondering why he had agreed to pick Kara up. He had already honked twice and definitely didn't want to go to Letty's door. After an excruciating 10 minute wait, Dominic dragged himself up to Letty's doorstep to knock. As he knocked on the door, it swung open and immediately his guard was up, Letty was adamant about always locking doors. He looked in the apartment to see candles lit up everywhere. Surprised, he closed the door behind him and called out for Letty.  
  
"I'm in the back Dom!" Letty answered back trying to remain calm and cool. Seconds later Dom was standing in Letty's doorway. He leaned up against the side of the doorway and asked, "Where's Kara?" in a suspicious voice. She smiled as she saw him glance over her skimpy black lace tank top and black lace boy-shorts that were visible underneath her oversized white terrycloth robe. "Didn't Mia tell you? Her and Brian picked her up to go see a movie about an hour ago." Letty replied in an almost sweetly innocent tone. "So she's not here?" Dom questioned. "Aren't you observant." Letty replied with a teasing smile. "So what's all this?" Dom asked, trying to sound as professional as possible. "Just thought I'd try to relax tonight, maybe take a bath. I thought Mia had called you and told you not to come by. But I guess I accidentally left my door open. Good thing it was you and not someone else who came in." She answered in a light tone. She was starting to get antsy, patience was not a virtue of hers. "You look like you need to relax too, Dom." Letty said with a hint of a smile. "You also look like you could use a massage." "A massage?" Dom questioned. Ok, Letty, I'll play along, he thought to himself. Letty led Dom over to her bed and made him lie on his stomach. She started to rub his tense muscles for a bit before she was able to coax his wife-beater off of him.  
  
  
  
The Morning After  
  
Dom woke up to the radio blasting at 6:30 am. He turned and just looked at the clock for a minute before the time it showed really sunk in. Slowly and clumsily a small, tanned arm from beneath the blanket that covered him, reached out and hit the snooze button. What the hell, Dom thought and looked at the ceiling for a moment trying to regain his memory. "I need some coffee." Letty mumbled drowsily as she got up from her bed and reached for her robe. Then in a flood it all came back to him. He remembered Letty massaging his bare back and he remembered how great it felt, then he remembered closing his eyes for just a moment and then not opening them until the radio went off at 6:30. He sat up in the bed and became fully aware that he was just wearing boxer-briefs. Sleepily he stumbled into the kitchen where he was greeted with a coffee cup from Letty. "Thank God for automatic timer, uh?" She grumbled. "Exactly what happened last night Let?" Dom asked, squinting at the light that was shining in the through her kitchen window. "Oh, come on Dom." Letty scoffed. "It's not like I drugged you or something. I was giving you a massage and then you fell asleep. I just took off your pants and shoes so you'd be more comfortable." "What I meant was why were you massaging me at all. Why did you set me up?" Dom questioned. "Why do you think genius?" Letty answered coyly. "Well, I think we better get going to the garage." Letty walked to her room and threw on loose cargo pants and a black wife beater on over her black lace lingerie. Dom just kind of gaped at her and almost dropped his coffee. "You're wearing that, uh, stuff under your work clothes?" he asked. "Yeah, I do it all the time." Letty smiled back.  
  
When Letty walked into the office and saw Mia's broad smile, her heart sank. Sorry I can't give you the news you want to hear, she thought. She gave Mia a run down of the events that occurred the night before. She sighed as she described how their plan almost worked and then told Mia how Dom fell asleep.  
  
Dom walked into the office casually and went right to the clipboard to review who was assigned to what cars. Brian came up with a big smile on his face and asked him how his night was, without flinching Dom looked right back at Brian with a straight face and said fine. To change the subject quickly he yelled at Vince and Leon to come over so they could have their morning meeting. As he rambled off assignments, he couldn't get the image of Letty's black, lace lingerie out of his mind.  
  
At around 11 am Mia was just finishing an estimate for a longtime client when she looked up only to see her husband in the doorway of the office "Hey babe, uh, can you help me find a part in the store room." Brian sheepishly asked Mia. As soon as the door was closed Mia grabbed Brian and pulled him against her against the wall to her very inviting mouth. His hands quickly made their way up her thighs and under her knee-length floral skirt. Her hands were quicker though, she already had his coveralls unbuttoned and sagging off his waist as she reached to feel for his boxer shorts. When her hand finally found what she was wanting, Brian got the picture that they were about to cross that line of just fooling around in the storage room to having sex in the storage room. Not that others hadn't before, but this was their turn. Mia emerged out of the door as quietly as possible about 20 minutes later and creeped her way back to the office. Letty was there eyeing some file and didn't look up from it when Mia picked up another file off the desk, but she couldn't stifle a laugh as she walked out of the office.  
  
"Lunchtime boys!" Sira called from the doorway of the garage. Everyone's ears perked up as Sira and Kara walked in. Vince ran up to Sira and picked her up and swung her around. "Thanks hun! What'd you make me?!" Vince asked impatiently digging through the large paper bag that he quickly yanked out of her hand. "I made you and Leon breakfast burritos and bought you chips and cokes." She replied. "Aw, Sira! Thanks!" Leon kissed her on her forehead and then headed for the bag to make sure V would share. "Well, I knew that Kara was bring lunch for Dom, Let, Bri, and Mia so I thought I'd bring something for you!" Sira replied with a smile. Leon smiled big and dug into his lunch.  
  
Dom ate in silence until Brian came in trying to get info on where he'd spent the night. Dom got up and walked over and sat by Letty on one the old benches that leaned up against the wall of the garage. "How you doin, Let?" Dom asked in his usual deep voice. "Fine, I guess, just a little frustrated." Letty answered with a smirk. "Yeah?" Dom questioned, "What do you got to be frustrated about?" "Men in general, you see Dom, there's this guy who I want, it's just that I don't think he has the stamina for me or the endurance it would take to please me. So now I have to go find another man. And, well, that's just frustrating." Letty got up from the bench and smiled sweetly at Dom. Stamina, Dom thought, I'll show you stamina anytime you want baby, he smiled to himself. These little flirtations aren't going to cut it, Dom said to himself. Things are gonna have to get real serious real soon, he decided.  
  
Letty and Mia walked out with Kara and Sira and outside the doorway Sira stopped turned to Mia suddenly. "Mia, was your engagement ring the first real diamond that Brian had ever given you?" Sira asked. "Yeah, before that they had all been fake." She answered. "You were okay with that?" Kara asked. "Yeah, it was the thought that counted." Mia responded with a smile. "As long as that's the only thing that's fake in our relationship." She said with a devilish grin, they all giggled.  
  
Dom walked toward the entrance and could hear the girls laughing, he waited. What are they giggling about now, he thought. Then he heard; "Yeah well Dom only gave me fake ones when we were together and the way it looks now, I don't think I'll ever get a real one." He heard Letty say and then the girls laughed again. Confused, he leaned in to hear more. "Well I only want real ones, fake just doesn't seem right, not if he's "THE ONE". Kara said. "Well the reason I asked was because I got a fake . . . . " Her voice was suddenly drowned out by noise in the garage. Angered, he threw Leon a glare and Leon just shrugged. He turned back to the door and heard Sira finish with, "and it wasn't easy to fake that kind of excitement but he really wanted to please me and I just didn't have it in me to let him down." Dom thought carefully trying to figure out what they were talking about, suddenly it clicked; sex, they're talking about sex?! Dom leaned in to listen for more info. He heard Mia next, "Well believe me, when it's finally real it's worth, believe me! It took Brian a while but it was well worth the wait" and the giggling started again. I could really have gone my whole life without hearing that from my sister, Dom thought as he winced as if in pain. Then he remembered what Letty had just said and he thought, she only got fake ones from me! What the fuck! He yelled in his mind but kept listening. "When will these boys learn about women's needs?" Sira asked aloud and Letty replied, "Please! They have no clue, they think just because they make a little bit of effort that you should be screamin' and jumpin' up and down and be grateful. If they were just a little less selfish." That's enough, Dom thought to himself, I've heard enough! Dom walked back to the car he was previously working on, shaking his head.  
  
Letty said good-bye to Sira and Kara, and as she and Mia walked back into the garage she told her that she was glad that Vince was serious enough about Sira to start giving her jewelry, even if it was cubic zirconium.  
  
  
  
Keeping it Real  
  
As the day wore on, work at the garage piled up. Dom heard Vince answer his cell phone and could tell it was Sira wondering where he was. Dom looked at the clock and saw that it was 8:48 pm. Mia had left only an hour before and had warned Brian not to stay too late. Business is good, thought Dom as he looked over at Letty talking to Brian about the Mustang he was working on. Brian had learned a lot about cars in the past two years but Letty had been around cars since she was ten years old and had a lot more patience explaining things to him than Leon, Vince, or even Dom did. Dom slid back underneath the Honda Accord he was working on when he heard Vince hang up. "Yo dawg, I gotta go." Vince said sheepishly as he walked over to the Honda. "Sira made dinner and stuff and I really don't want to eat it cold because if I do then that won't be the only thing that's cold, if you know what I mean, man." Vince said with a snort. Dom slid out and told him it was cool, and that he was closing up the shop now anyway.  
  
Letty reached over to turn the lights off in the office and she grabbed all the keys off the hooks that were right by the switch, she turned and tossed all the guys their keys and they all headed to their cars. Once at her apartment, she sat on her couch, put her feet up and laid her head back. She couldn't help but think of Dom. Her cell rang, it was Kara inviting her over to watch a video at the house. Letty thought about it and agreed, she washed up and drove over even thought it was only a few blocks away. She walked right in and plopped down on the couch beside Kara and they played the movie. She was into it at first but was distracted when she saw Dom standing in the kitchen doorway. Letty tried to refocus on the movie but she could feel him staring at her, finally she looked over and said, "Need something Dom?" She asked in her usual sarcastic tone. "No, do you?" He countered. God he looks beautiful, she thought. He had obviously just been working out in the garage in the back of the house because he was muscles were more pumped up that usual and his smell was more sweat than oil. "Oh, but I don't know your needs huh? Don't worry Letty you won't have to fake it for me anymore." And he turned to go back in the kitchen. Letty and Kara exchanged questioning glances and then Letty walked into the kitchen.  
  
When she came into the kitchen Dom was surprised, he'd hoped she would, but still wasn't really expecting it. "Okay Toretto, what's the deal? What are trying to tell me in your own fucked up cryptic way." Letty said, leaning against the counter with her arms folded across her chest. "You know if you were so God damned unsatisfied with our relationship why didn't you get out sooner?" Dom said as he faced the window. "Where the fuck is this coming from Dom? I'm lost on why your mad right now, so just spell it out." Letty said standing up straight and facing his back. "I uh, . . . . heard you talkin' with the girls about uh . . " Dom stammered off. "About what?" Letty pressed him. "Fuck it, I don't want to talk about it anymore." Dom went out the back door and walked toward the garage. "Don't run from me Toretto! Say what's on your mind!" Letty called out after him and followed him into the garage. "What the fuck is up!" Letty questioned, once they were in the garage she turned on the only fan in there. "Damnit Letty, you didn't have to fake it with me!" Frustrated he finally told her. "What? You lost me Dom. Fake what?" Letty asked, confused. "Fake cumming, fake orgasms!!" Dom said in an exasperated whisper.  
  
Letty could not stop laughing she leaned up against the wall of the garage and only laughed harder when she saw the confused look on Dom's face. Sex with him had been amazing, she never faked, never even came close to having too. He must have a really shitty memory, she thought as she laughed harder. "Where in the hell did you get that idea?" Letty fought to control her laughter. "I heard you guys talking today, about how I never gave you a real one, and how Vince gave Sira a fake one last night. And stuff about Mia that I'd rather forget." Dom winced. "Dom, if you'd eavesdropped a little more closely you would have heard what we were really talking about." Letty smiled devilishly. She explained to Dom that they had been talking about diamonds. Laughing, she told him that if they had been having an orgasm conversation, well then he would definitely be more pleased to listen in on that one. She walked out of the garage before he could get another word in. She was still laughing on her way home. The girls are going to fuckin die when they hear about this, she thought as she walked up her steps.  
  
  
  
Love Connection  
  
Tuesday morning was so busy that no one even noticed that lunchtime had come and gone. Everyone was hustling around trying to get their assignments done and start work on the new jobs that had come in. Dom worked through lunch and was exhausted and starving by four p.m. Caught up on his work he called Kara and asked her to bring him something to eat from the store. When she got there he ate hungrily. After about 2 minutes he was done and wiping his hands off.  
  
Letty wiped the sweat from her brow and looked sideways at the engine in a Ford Mustang, the radiator had to be replaced and the thermostat. She made a note on the chart to order a radiator, and went to the storage room to look for a thermostat. After opening the door she instantly wished she hadn't. Quickly she shut it and leaned up against it trying to process what she had just seen. The door opened and an arm reached out and yanked her into the storage room. "Letty, it's not what you think." Kara tried to explain. Leon sat on a nearby crate rubbing the back of his neck with a flushed face. "Uh, I don't think my opinion is the one you need to be worried about Kara." Letty whispered loudly. She looked at Leon and said, "What are you thinking! Do you actually like getting your ass beat!!" "Letty, this is just as much my fault as it is his." Kara said. Leon was just silent and put his head down. "Leon, Dom is going to kill you. And not the 'stay away from my cousin' killing, but the 'visit to the hospital' killing." Letty ignored Kara. "Don't tell him Letty, ok? 'Cause it just sorta happened, we don't know if it's going to lead to anything, so please just pretend you didn't see it." Kara begged. Letty thought for a moment and agreed to keep quiet. But as she walked out of the storage room she turned back and said, "If you don't wanna be caught, you two should find another spot because this room sees more action than a motel room rented by the hour."  
  
At 4:30 Dom decided to leave work early and drop a list of requested racing parts by Harry's on his way home. Harry introduced him to his nephew Jake, a newcomer to L.A. but great engineer in the making according Harry. After talking to them for a few minutes about parts, Harry pulled Dom aside and brought up their longtime friendship and partnership. Right away Dom was suspicious, trying to cut through Harry's bullshit, he asked him directly what he needed. Harry asked him to set up Jake with his cousin, he's trustworthy and not a common thug like most the guys that hung 'round here, he reasoned. When asked why, Harry just said that he wants Jake to like it here so stays and can help out with the expansion of Racer's Edge. Dom agreed, thinking that Kara could use a fix up, and better a college boy than a racing thug.  
  
"No, and that's that. I'm not going on any kind of date with someone I don't even know." Kara said shaking her head. Dom told her he set it up for this evening. She protested more. "I'm not a child Dom, I don't need you to set me up." Kara replied. Dom thought for a second and then just asked her to do it as a favor to him and that she wouldn't regret it because it seemed that this kid was really nice. Finally giving in, she went upstairs to get ready. Dom sighed and sat on his couch, he could hear Mia and Letty in the kitchen and he smiled to himself as remembered the old days. The smile quickly disappeared when Leon and Vince walked into the room and sat down. "What's goin' on tonight man." Vince said to Dom. "Kara's going out with Harry's nephew and Letty and Mia are trying out some new recipe for homemade eggrolls." Dom responded. "What!?." Asked Leon, suddenly sitting straight up. "I know, I don't really want to taste it when their done either!" Dom whispered and smiled. Mia was a pretty good cook, but it usually took her a couple tries to get a new recipe right. Letty on the other hand was lucky if her microwave dinner didn't burn. "I mean, what about Kara?" Leon asked. Dom explained what Harry had asked him to do and how Kara agreed, but he was going to owe her big time. The guys sat there and watched Sports Center for a little while but were interrupted when the doorbell rang. It was Jake, so Dom introduced him around and called Kara downstairs. Kara came down and said quick goodbyes and rushed Jake out the door. "I don't like him." Leon said as they walked back to the living room. "Yeah, why can't he get his own dates? It's not like you man, to be offering up your cousin." Vince said "He seems cool." Dom replied, leaning back on to the couch. "Yeah, you remember the last guy Harry thought was cool." Vince said. "Yeah, but now there ain't nothing to worry about, we got nothing to hide." Dom said. "Except the fact that we're all still racing." Leon countered. Dom thought for a moment. "Maybe we should follow her, you know where they went right?" Leon offered. "Yeah, I guess, but the girls are gonna be pissed. What are we going to tell them?" Dom asked. "They don't have to know, just say Leon and I went to rent a movie and then I'll call from my cell to let you know if anything's going down. Okay?" Vince said. "Fine." Dom whispered. "We're gonna rent a video." They called out at the same time as they rushed out the door.  
  
Brian came downstairs just in time to see the guys leave. He looked at the worried Dom and asked what was up. After Dom explained that he set up Kara and was now having second thoughts about it, Brian responded lightly with, "Well, I wouldn't worry if I were you, I'm sure Leon will be following right behind them to make sure nothing happens" Laughing, he walked into the kitchen and smiled at Mia. "What do you mean by that O'Connor?" Dom asked as he got up and followed him to the kitchen. "Nothing man, just that our boy Leon has been paying extra attention to your cuz lately." Brian and Mia smiled. Dom looked at Letty who quickly turned away. "Do you mean that Leon is diggin on my cousin?" Dom asked incredulously. "I think so man." Brian responded as he stuffed his mouth with garlic bread. He couldn't tell if Dom was more or less pissed than before. "Why didn't he tell me?" Dom thought out loud. "I think he tried, but, uh, you've been distracted lately bro." And Brian gave look toward Letty and he saw them both kind of blushed and look away from each other. Suddenly Brian saw on Dom's face that he had made the connection.  
  
Stakeout Times Two  
  
Dom grabbed his keys as he headed for the door, he could hear Mia and Letty calling him back, but he went straight to his car. Brian caught up with him and was able to convince him to at least take Mia's car so that they would be a little less recognizable. In the car Dom quizzed Brian about how long he had know that Leon had a thing for Kara. Brian didn't have many answers though, it was just something that Mia had pointed out and once Brian had start paying more attention to Leon's actions toward her he saw what she saw. But he told Dom that Leon was discreet enough, and that's why no else probably saw it. Dom dialed Vince's cell, as he sped out of his Echo Park neighborhood. "What's up dawg?" Vince answered. "Where are you guys?" Dom asked in an even voice. "Outside of that French restaurant that Sira always makes me take her. They just walked in. Are you at the house?" Vince asked curiously. "Yeah, I'm at the house, I just wanted to make sure that's where he was taking her, that's all." Dom hung up and sped on.  
  
Brian and Dom parked in the back of the restaurant by the dumpsters. From their spot they could see Vince and Leon in Sira's car, keeping a low profile in her all-black Mustang. Brian and Dom figured it was just as good as keeping an eye on the entrance. After a few moments of silence, Brian finally asked Dom, "So what's wrong about Leon liking Kara, Dom, he would be better for her than some stranger." "Leon's like a brother, but Kara is only twenty years old and she's always been really shy and sheltered, she needs a bookworm type, maybe a school teacher or something like Jake, ya know. Leon's a good guy but it just wouldn't feel right, ya know?" Dom tried to explain. But Brian could see that he wasn't even convincing himself, he was just in protection mode.  
  
Letty started rolling the egg rolls and told Mia about how Dom had eavesdropped on their fake diamond conversation. They laughed at how he overreacted and at what a baby he was being about Kara and Leon. Then Letty told Mia about catching them in the garage storage room together, since Mia had already figured out that Leon had a thing for Kara. Mia promised not to tell Dom but said she had a feeling that he would find out sooner or later. Then Mia mentioned that she was surprised that Leon hadn't followed Kara. Where are the guys with the movies anyways, Letty thought aloud. Coming to the same conclusion and the same time Letty and Mia started giggling uncontrollably. Mia ran into the living room and grabbed her cell phone and text messaged Kara on her cell. The message read, 'Dom and Bri are following Leon and V, and they are following you, Call when you get a chance!!' Letty and Mia looked at each other and said 'BUSTED!' with big smiles. Five minutes later Mia's cell rang. "Mia, what is going on?" Kara asked in a hushed voice. "Kara! This is so funny, Leon and V followed you on your date and now Brian and Dom are following them, following you, and they don't even know it!" Mia giggled as she explained. "What?! Why did Dom even fix me up if all he was going to do was spy on me and exactly what did Leon say?" Kara's voice got frantic. "What's funny is that Dom is actually following Leon because he found out that he likes you!" Mia couldn't control herself and started laughing again. "WHAT?! Ohmygod!! I can't believe this! I'm on a date with Jake and Leon and V are watching him to make sure he behaves and Brian and Dom are watching Leon to make sure he behaves? Well you know what? If it's a show they want, then their gonna get it!" Kara finished. "What, uh, what are you going to do?" Mia asked, suddenly concerned. "Just teach them a lesson." Kara hung up. "What did she say?" Letty asked Mia as she put down her phone. "I think she's gonna get even with them!" Mia said with a smile and Letty smiled back.  
  
Leon looked through his window and saw into the window where Jake was seated at. He saw Kara come back to the table and look out the window, quickly he ducked, he hoped she hadn't seen him. He rose in his seat and stared at her with Jake. Every smile she made, made him cringe. He scrunched his face as he saw her hand feed a spoonful of something to Jake. He cursed out loud when he saw Jake take Kara's hand and kiss her wrist. Who the hell does he think he is? Rico Suave? Leon thought to himself. "Calm down Leon, nothing too bad yet." Vince said. Leon didn't respond, but actually got out of the car when he saw Jake pull Kara's arm to come sit on his lap. I'm gonna kill that college boy, Leon thought as stomped over to the entrance of the restaurant. He heard V trail behind him trying to coax him back in the car. Leon had tried to be calm but he just couldn't take it anymore.  
  
"What the hell is he doing?" Dom asked Brian as they watched Leon get out of Sira's car and head toward the entrance. When they saw Vince get out and follow him they waited a second and then left Mia's car. As they walked up to the entrance, they saw through the window what Leon was pissed about. Kara was sitting on Jake's lap spoon-feeding him. Dom started to make his way to the entrance but Brian held him back.  
  
Leon walked up to the table and said, "Get your damn hands off of her." In a controlled voice. Jake gave him a 'who the hell are you look' and started to get up but Kara stopped him. Wrapping her arms around Jake's neck, Kara responded with, "He doesn't have to, I like his hands where they are." She said in a sweet voice. "He's trying to take advantage of you Kara, can't you see that." Leon said with obvious irritation in his voice. Kara looked behind him and saw Vince standing at the bar. Jake followed her eyes and noticed him too. "Fuck this shit." Jake said as he lifted Kara off his lap and stood up. "Get outta here or I'll throw you guys outta here." Vince raised his eyebrows, surprised at the challenge. "You're going to have to throw us out." Leon said with growl. "Let's go then, you and me, let's have a step outside asshole." Jake said. Kara gave a look of boredom.  
  
"Where are they going?" Brian thought out loud right before all three guys burst through the entrance. Suddenly they were all face to face. "Dom what are you doing here?" Vince asked. "Better question, why are you here Leon? Why couldn't you just tell me that you had feelings for Kara? It would have saved me the time of having to kick your ass now instead of earlier." Dom responded. "What? You like Kara?" Vince turned to Leon with a confused look. "What the hell? This girl is more protected than the president!" Jake said, then he looked at the window and yelled, "Call me when your old enough to go out without your body guards." And he walked to his car and sped off. Dom and Leon stood facing each other and then both shot looks at the window and saw Kara on her cell phone with a smile on her face.  
  
Letty couldn't stop laughing at the mental picture she had in her head after hearing Kara's description of the situation at the restaurant. Mia and Letty were practically rolling on the kitchen floor  
  
"Yo, Kara! Get out here!" Dom yelled at Kara as he saw her hang up her phone. "Who were you talking to?" He asked impatiently as soon as she stepped out of the front door of the restaurant. "Mia and Letty, I just wanted them to know how stupid the men in their lives were." Kara answered matter-a-factly with a smug smile. "Look, I don't know what's been going on with you today, but you're gonna stop talking to me like that!" Dom retorted, getting fed up with her new attitude. "Now let's go home." He ordered.  
  
Letty and Mia looked out the window as headlights from their cars flooded the driveway. "Ohmygod! Dom even took my car to be more 'incognito'! What a paranoid freak!" Mia exclaimed. "He's your brother!" Letty laughed. "Yeah, but I didn't get a choice, you chose him for your boyfriend, chica!" Mia responded with a giggle. "Why do you think he's an ex-boyfriend?" Letty giggled back. Mia turned to her with a doubtful look. "Ex? Not for long sweetie." She smiled and Letty blushed and smiled back. Kara walked in and ran up straight to her room, Mia took one look at the guys and followed her. Letty got a jumbled version of what happened from Vince before he had to go pick up Sira at the hospital where she was working the 9am to 9pm shift. Letty stood facing Dom and Leon who both sat on opposite ends of the couch. Brian lingered in the living room and then got the hint to go upstairs after Letty threw him a look. "Ok, guys, what's going on?" Asked Letty. "Forget it." Leon scowled. "What you better forget about is my cousin." Dom said as he stood up. "So I like her, it's no big deal. You can't control that." Leon tried to reason. "We'll talk more later, cause I can't think about this shit right now." Dom said. "I'm going to bed early, be at the shop early tomorrow, we got a lot of shit to do k? "Yeah, ok." Leon replied. Dom stomped up the stairs and slammed the door.  
  
Letty just gave a sympathetic look to Leon as he walked out the front door. Letty walked slowly up the stairs and stopped in front of Dom's door and was about to knock when Mia stepped out of Kara's room and motioned for her to come in it. "Hey Kara, so how's it going 'Miss Desirable'!" Letty asked with a smile. "Letty! What am I going to do? It's Leon ya know? I've known him forever and before now he's just been this guy, who was friends with my cousin. Not anyone special or different, but now all the sudden he's this beautiful, dangerous, sensual, sexy guy." Kara said staring off into space. "And Dom's pissed." She finished, coming back to reality. "Well I don't think there's anything you can do about your new found feelings, maybe you should just go with what your gut tells you. Fuck Dom! And don't worry about it, k?" Letty told her. Mia smiled. "Maybe you should take your own advice Let." Mia nudged Letty. "That is completely different and you know it!" Letty pushed Mia back playfully. Letty left Kara's room and sighed, she thought briefly about going into Dom's room but decided that if he needed to be at the shop early, so did she, so she went home instead.  
  
Race Warz  
  
Memorial Day weekend came up that Friday and the team was swamped, not only with regular customers but pressure to get their own cars ready for Race Warz. Also, it was becoming more and more clear that whatever Brian knew, Mia knew and vice-versa. The sexual tension between Letty and Dom was only growing, and they themselves succumbed to seductiveness of the storage room and had an unexpected make out session after which, they both claimed temporary insanity. Dom was getting more and more agitated with the whole situation and it was beginning to show in his temper. Leon kept his distance from Dom and ignored Kara entirely, Dom didn't complain but Letty couldn't help but mention to him how miserable he seemed lately. Dom just snapped back that if some people could go without than so could he. Not wanting to get into it with him Letty avoided him too. Since the wedding Sira seemed more part of the team than just Vince's girlfriend and was hanging around with everyone whenever she had time off of work. Kara stuck to working at the store and stuck to just hanging out with the girls whenever possible to avoid Leon since he was so determined to avoid her. By the time Memorial Day weekend had rolled around, everyone was looking forward to Race Warz with a lot of anticipation. Not only would it be a good chance for them to do something together as an actual team, but it would be the first one the team had competed in two years.  
  
The morning of Race Warz Letty got up from her bed and stretched. She walked to kitchen and grabbed some coffee, silently thanking God for the automatic timer on the coffee machine. She was at the garage by seven and started loading up the trailer as soon as Brian and Dom got there. Mia and Kara arrived a little later bringing breakfast burritos and some other food to get them through the long day ahead. Vince and Leon showed up late but finished up the loading and then the team headed out to the desert. Mia pulled Letty aside and told her that she thought the two of them should arrange for Kara and Leon to ride together to the desert. After some convincing, Letty agreed just so they could leave and told Dom that Kara was riding with her and after Dom left with the trailer, Letty told Kara to ride with Mia and Brian because her car was packed with extra food and clothes. She drove off before Kara could question her. Kara walked over to Mia and asked to ride with her and Brian and was surprised when she shook her head and showed her all the stuff they had in the back seat. Mia suggested asking Vince, but Brian then came up and told them that Vince had left to go pick up Sira and then was heading to Race Warz from her house. Leon came up to them and told them he was ready to go when they were. Mia quickly said they were ready and that Kara should ride with him. Kara just stared as Brian and Mia quickly got into the Supra and started the engine. Shaking his head Leon just mumbled let's go and opened the passenger side door for Kara.  
  
Dom watched as Mia and Brian drove up to where the team had set up camp. He was surprised not to see Kara with them since Letty had told him that she had decided to ride with them. His surprise turned to anger when Leon drove up and Kara stepped out of his car. Quickly he walked over to Mia, knowing that this was her meddling. After getting on her case about Kara and Leon, Dom went to sulk in the trailer. After a few minutes, Dom heard the door open. "Yo dawg." Dom said standing up, he had been hoping that it was Letty who had come to check on him and he showed his disappointment that it was Leon instead. "Hey Dom, I gotta talk to you about Kara." Leon said. "I'm not gonna go on ignoring her." "I never said you had to ignore her, just don't get involved with her." Dom responded with a hard look on his face. "You're not my keeper Dom and you're not hers either." Leon said in a steady voice. "I'm through walking on eggshells around you. I'm not gonna hurt her, she's amazing and I'm crazy about her and I have been for a long time. Now she finally sees me as more than a grease monkey and I'm not gonna stay away because of you, because then I'm not being true to myself and you should know how that feels dawg." Then Leon left the trailer. Dom sat down and put his head in his hands and soon felt a cool hand on his shoulders. Letty had come into the trailer unnoticed. "Letty, not now ok?" Dom said getting up. "I don't have time for this Lett n' Dom shit right now. I gotta a race to win, my best friend is messin around wit' my innocent cousin, and trying to sort shit out with you is fucking with my head. I only think about you and right now I need to concentrate on other shit. You like me, then you hate me, then you try to seduce me, then you hate me again, then you like me, then you tease me. I mean, what the fuck is going on Let." Dom asked with a no-nonsense look and crossed his arms. Looking at him, Letty reached her breaking point too. "I just came in here to offer some support but fine, if this is what you want then ok, Dom, you want to know what's going on, I'll tell you." Letty countered, "I still love you asshole. But I don't really know what to do about it because I don't want to go back to our old relationship, you remember that one, right? The one where you screwed around on me and used your influence over me to get me to do stupid things and where you took everything I did for your lousy ass for granted. I'm not saying I didn't do anything wrong, I accept responsibility too, I let you get away with your weak apologies and trusted in you that you knew what was best for all of us even when I disagreed. But you know what Dom, I've grown up since then and it's not gonna happen again. I'm not gonna just let you take over my life and then have nothing left when you get bored." Letty finished. She felt tears coming on but fought hard to control them. She was determined not to cry, because then all it would take would be a little comforting and she just melt into him. "And you know what else Dom, Master of us all? Kara has grown up too, and maybe she's tired of being your innocent little girl in need of protection. She knows what she wants and its Leon. Deal with it!" Letty stomped out of the trailer. Now it was Dom's turn to look shocked. She's never said any of this before, he thought. "You know Letty, this would have all been useful information when you broke up with me two years ago." Dom said as she left. Fucking great Dom thought. Is there anything else that could stress me out more, he looked up to question God.  
  
By lunchtime, Letty, Dom, Vince, and Leon had all qualified for the next round of races, the only one still in line to race was Brian. The rest of the team sat down to eat sandwiches and munch on chips when Dom turned to Leon told him across the table that he had seen an old friend from high school by one of the t-shirt vendors. "Hey, Leon, I just saw Cammi over on the other side over by the t- shirt stand. She told me to tell you that she said hi and she'll stop by later." Dom told him loud enough for the whole team to hear. "Great." Leon said sarcastically and stared at his plate. "It's cool that she remembers you, huh?" Dom asked trying to make it sound like an innocent question. Letty shot him a look, and Kara and Sira looked over at Leon, waiting for his reaction. "Well, she should after all the secret admirer shit that you sent her when we were in high school!" Vince said laughing with food in his mouth. "Yeah, you were really sprung over her! I almost forgot all that crazy shit you pulled when you liked her, man!" Dom said with a smile. "And remember how surprised she was to find out that the secret admirer was you, when she was hoping that it would be Dom." Vince said laughing out loud. "Why don't you guys shut up about that crap." Leon said. "Naw dawg, we gotta tell that story, it's too funny to let it go!" Vince said smiling. "Really? Because I think the story about the time Dom got his ass kicked by a girl is a funnier story!" Leon said. Uh-oh, Dom thought, things just got serious.  
  
"Shut up Leon!" Dom said trying to hide his shame. "What? Dom got beat up by a girl? Tell us!!!" Letty exclaimed. "Well last year, we were at the supermarket getting stuff for a barbeque and we had so much shit that one of the bag-boys helped bring it to our cars. Then he started ragging on Dom's RX-7 pretty hard. The kid was only, like 17 so Dom didn't really pay attention at first." Leon started. "Leon, don't finish that story, you promised to keep that one on the DL, man!" Dom warned. Acting like he didn't even hear him, Leon went on. "Finally the kid pissed Dom off enough by insulting his choice in ride as well as his, uh, well we'll just say 'manhood'. So Dom grabs the kid by the shirt and yells in his face, all of the sudden a truck drives up and this chick steps out, she's not small by any means! She starts yelling at Dom to drop her little brother and then before you know it she runs at him and tackles him, right there in the parking lot of the store, and other people are walking by! She gets him down on the ground and jumps up and starts kicking him! We didn't know what to do at first because it happened so fast, but Vince and I pulled her away from him and then she and the kid jumped into the truck and sped off. We couldn't follow because Dom couldn't get up from the ground yet, she had gotten him with at least three good kicks!" Leon finished. Everyone started laughing and Letty said, "Poor Dom! I guess we should be more gentle with you." Dom just glared and then his expression lightened. "That was almost as funny as when you puked all over that hot stripper when we went to that club in Hollywood." Dom pointed at Leon, with a big smile on his face. Leon's eyes grew big and his face got red. "STRIPPER?" The girls all exclaimed at once. "Yeah, uh, she was hot but not as hot as the one that Dom hired to dance at Brian's bachelor party." Leon responded. Mia reached over and smacked Dom on the arm. "You told me you wouldn't hire a stripper!" Mia exclaimed. Dom winced at scolding. Leon looked over at Vince, who was laughing hysterically. "What are you laughing for Vince? What about the time that you wore Sira's underwear to work? That was pretty funny too, right?" Leon told everyone. Vince's laughter stopped and he stood up and pointed at Leon and said, "Don't go there Leon!" Everyone started laughing at Vince and whistling at him. Just then everyone quieted down when Brian came up to the table. "Well? Did you qualify?" Mia asked. "Yeah, just barely though, someone needs to take a look at my engine, something didn't feel right." Brian responded. Vince, Leon, and Dom got up to check it out.  
  
Letty looked up when the guys walked back to the camp as Mia was lecturing them about lying and strippers. All of the guys just stood there and took it and then apologized. Then sat down around the camp. Letty couldn't help but smile. Mia always had that kind of motherly power over the guys. A moment later, a tall blond Barbie-looking girl came up and sat on Dominic's lap. "Hey Dommy, maybe after your done with your pit crew over here, you can let me take care of ya." The blond said. Oh that did not just happen, Letty thought to herself as she walked around from behind his chair and stared at the girl straight on. "Bitch, you better get your skanky ass off my man before I stick my boot up it!" Letty said in a calm but threatening voice. She could hear her voice saying it, but had no idea where it came from. Dom stood up, causing the girl to lose balance and cling to him to stand up straight. "And you are?" The blond responded with. "Your personal nightmare." Letty answered with a snarl. "Cammi, cut your shit." Dom said matter-of-factly. "And get the fuck outta here," Letty finished his sentence. As she walked away she blew a kiss at Leon, and Letty truly thought she was going to tackle her. Luckily Dom, who seemed to read her mind, caught her arm just in time. Letty just looked at Dom's confused look and yanked her arm out of his grip. She walked to her car to get in line for her next race.  
  
In the Heat of the Moment 14  
  
  
  
Early the next morning everyone stumbled out of their hotel rooms and into their cars to get over to the races that were right near by. Leon and Brian immediately got in line for the next qualifying heat. Dom and the rest of the team set up their camp again and started looking over their cars. Sira wiped down Vince's car, making it shine and then went and helped Letty with her car. Dom and Vince under the hood of Dom's car and Kara was setting up the table for breakfast. At 8:30am, everyone sat down and ate and talked about the upcoming races. Brian and Leon both qualified to move on to the next round and Dom and Vince were going to go race next, while Letty was in the last heat.  
  
In the early evening Letty, Dom, and Leon all lined their cars up for the final qualifying run, only the top four times would go on to the finals. It was between them and five other cars. They lined up to compete two by two. The rest of the team stood on the sidelines cheering, Vince and Brian recovered from their defeats earlier that day and were standing there too. It was no surprise when all three of them qualified, what was surprising was the fourth qualifier. It was a guy that no one knew. They lined their cars up for the final race, all four of them at the same time, and waited for the shotgun.  
  
Once he heard the shotgun go off, Dom felt himself slip into the zone. As sudden as that blast, he didn't think about the fact that he was racing his ex-girlfriend, who he was still in love with, and one of his best friends. He didn't think about how he was going to pay Mia's tuition, or keep Kara away from Leon, or even about the last time he'd been to RaceWarz and what had happened. Thoughts of Trans, cops, jail, and death had no place in his mind right now. The only thought of Letty was how he was going to beat her. He saw from the corner of his eye, Leon's yellow car and reached for the NOS button, he waited a beat and then hit it. Crossing the finished line first was nothing new to him, but this time, as he did it, he exhaled all the bullshit that had been wearing him down that weekend.  
  
Letty crossed the finish line just after Leon and the guy was right behind her. She stopped her car and ran over to Dom's. She wasn't happy about her own loss, but she was happy for him. He needed this, she thought. After she gave him a forced hug, she turned to see who the guy was from the other car and saw her walking toward the huge crowd that had gathered around Dom. The guy walked up to Dom, Leon, and Letty and extended his arm and shook their hands. With no more than a smile, he turned and started to walk back to hhis car. "Hey!" Letty called out to him. "Who are you?!" "K.C.!" he yelled out and climbed into his car and sped off. Well, that was interesting, Letty thought to herself as she walked back to the crew. The team collected their hard earned prize money and headed back to the hotel for some private celebration.  
  
Dom sat on his bed shirtless, wearing only black basketball jersey shorts, flipping around the channels wishing he had someone to celebrate with. It's probably better this way, he thought, no chicks mean no trouble and Letty, well Letty is Letty and I never know if she's gonna hit me or kiss me. I'm tired of stressing over that girl, he tried to convince himself, she ain't even that pretty. He shook his head and laughed to himself, I am full of shit, he thought. Dom was surprised when he heard a knock at his door and was even more taken back when he saw through the peephole who it was. So much for her not being that pretty, Dom looked at Letty, she was beautiful standing in the doorway in her short sweat shorts and white tank top, and her long hair tied up, she was obviously dressed for bed. Question was: who's bed? Two minutes later, without words or explanations, she was straddling him on the bed and trying to tear his shorts off, while he tugged at hers. She managed, somehow, to remove them without breaking contact with his mouth, next on his agenda were her shorts. He rolled on top of her caressed her gently, but firmly as he peeled her baggy shorts of her petite frame. He stopped for a second as he looked at her lace underwear after he had removed her shorts. "I have been thinking about seeing those for a long time." He whispered huskily in her ear.  
  
Dom sighed heavily and rolled on his back and closed his eyes. That was amazing he thought, more amazing than I remember.  
  
Letty laid on Dom's bed with her eyes closed wondering what Dom was thinking. It was 8:30 and time to get up and get ready to drive home. Rolling over, Letty looked at Dom and then turned back and sat up on the bed with her feet dangling on the edge. Full of self-doubt about had happened the night before, she quietly got off the bed and dressed. I just came over to talk and we didn't say a single word about our relationship, she scolded herself. As she headed for the door, she heard Dom. "Why are you leaving?" He said in a sleepy not quite comprehensible voice. "Just going to go get ready." Letty replied meekly, looking like a child caught in the act of fleeing from the scene of the crime. "So what now?" Dom asked, and Letty immediately wished he hadn't. "Honestly, I don't know Dom." Letty replied, stepping closer to the door. "When it comes down to it, I don't know how to trust you and you don't know how to love me the way I want to be loved." Dom sat up to protest, Letty interrupted him, "And I don't mean sex Dom, I mean love."  
  
Dom thought to himself for a moment, I can't live my life at a standstill with this girl, he decided. "Well, Letty, I do love you, with all my heart and all my soul. There is no one else that I've ever loved the way I love you and I always will. The only way I know how to love you is all or nothing, I want to be with you but we can't keep going in circles. That night before the wedding was the best night I had had in a long time because I got to spend it with you. I thought you felt the same but then you started sending me mixed signals. So maybe we better just forget these past few weeks ever happened and go back to way things were. No more of these," Dom motioned at the bed, "encounters." Dom finished, and got up and walked to the bathroom. He felt a rush of emotion as he heard the door to the room close and looked straight in the mirror punched it.  
  
The team loaded up their rides and drove back to L.A. Letty gazed at the highway, silently praying that no one saw her leave Dom's room and that he didn't find out that Kara had spent the night in Leon's room. No one asked Dom why his right hand was all bruised and scratched up. Letty had a feeling she knew what happened. After unloading, she went straight home. She knew she had a lot to think about.  
  
Mia read the recipe again, she didn't see anything different in it than what she had put in the pot, but it still didn't taste like Sira's alfredo sauce. She cursed out loud as the phone rang. Please let it be Brian and Dom saying they just want to order a pizza, she silently prayed. "Toretto" and unfamiliar male voice said. "Uh, who is this?" Mia answered, not in the mood for games. "You better get better security for your garage." And the phone went dead. What the fuck? Mia thought to herself. Then she jumped, but realized it was just the guys opening the door. Mia picked up the phone and searched through the caller ID. But it was UNAVAILABLE for the call that had just come in. Dom and Brian stood in the living room confused that she didn't come out of the kitchen, but stood there messing with the phone "Uh, Mia, what's going on?" Brian asked. "I just got a weird phone call." she replied, not looking up from the caller ID. She then put the phone down and told them what had happened. Not having a good feeling about it, they decided to take a quick drive to the garage just to be sure that everything was ok.  
  
Dom stepped into the garage and tried to resist the urge to go ballistic. Cars were missing, parts were missing, and the office was trashed. Dom looked over at Mia, she was already on the phone to get the cops over there. She stepped out of the office and told him that the cops were on their way and so was the rest of the team. The team showed up before the cops did, obviously this isn't Beverly Hills, Dom thought to himself in disgust. How the hell did this happen, he wondered. It's going to take forever to get back on our feet after the insurance company gets through with us, he thought as he buried his face in his hands.  
  
Letty and Mia talked quietly in the corner of the garage, while Dom filed the report and gave his statement to the police. "The person who called me did this or knows who did, but I can't figure out who it was." Mia told Letty. "But we will, and when we do, I feel sorry for them, because the guys are gonna kill them." Mia continued, with tears in her eyes. "You know, I really thought all this rivalry shit and drama was behind us, but I swear it just never ends!" Mia started crying on Letty's shoulder and Brian came and took her to the car and drove her home. Letty stood by Dom, V, and Leon and they discussed what they were going to do. Everyone agreed that it was the Trans, after what happened at the store, it was just a matter of time before they tried again. After a long discussion, Dom decided that they would close the shop for the next two weeks, Letty and Mia would call all the clients whose cars were stolen and explain the situation and give them their insurance company information. After that was taken care of, priority number one was retaliation.  
  
Say What You Feel 15  
  
The stress was getting to everyone. Their main suspect was the Tran Clan, but since that night at the store, no one had seen them around, they didn't even show up to Race Warz. Since they couldn't find the Trans just yet, the team tried to get the shop back in order, but having nothing to work with because the insurance hadn't come through yet, left them with idle hands. Mia and Kara kept busy with the store and school, and Letty pitched in with them, mainly because going to Harry's everyday to bullshit wasn't really her idea of fun, so she let the guys do that on their own. Hanging out at the store was boring for Letty but at least it gave her a chance to vent about Dom. The next morning Sira and Letty went to the store before the lunch rush to help out. Afterwards, when the store cleared out, she told the girls what had happened at Race Warz, Mia just shook her head and went to the back supply room. Letty gave Sira confused look, and then walked in there after her. "Mi, what's up girl?" Letty asked, leaning her arm against the door frame. "Why do you do it Letty? Why do you fuck with his head like that?" Mia asked frustrated with her. "What!? I'm not trying to fuck with him, things are just complicated between us, you can't expect a simple solution Mia! We're not like you and Brian, I can't just forget past shit." Letty argued back. "I didn't 'just forget' the past, but I at least I dealt with it all and worked through it instead of just running away and going back and then running away again. When does it end Let?" Mia asked, exasperated. "Oh spare me the 'I'm Mia, I know all there is to know about relationships and what's best for everyone' routine. It's getting old girl." Letty imitated. "Oh, so I guess the whole 'I love Dom, I hate Dom, I love Dom, I hate Dom,' routine is better?" Mia yelled, really getting angry. "Sorry if I don't fit into your little Susie Home Maker mold!" Letty yelled back. "Well, how can you fuck my brother and then just roll over and say 'your not good enough'!" Mia hissed back. "I didn't tell him he wasn't good enough and I didn't plan to sleep with him, it just happened Mia. It was in the heat of the moment, haven't you ever done anything that wasn't planned on, but just felt right?" Letty questioned. "If it felt so right, why didn't you guys get back together? Oh, I'll tell you why! You're scared! You're scared that he'll cheat again, that he'll screw up again, and that you'll 'loose yourself'. Well that's a bunch of shit Letty, cause if you love him, you love him and that's all there is to it. Believe me I learned the hard way." Mia said almost in tears. She hated fighting with her best friend. "Oh please, Brian was a cop and loved you and gave it up for you. What has Dom EVER given up for me? Nothing, not the skanks, not the heists, and definitely not his pride!" Letty started tearing up too, she had never fought with Mia about anything and now in the middle of the afternoon, in the middle of the store she was arguing about love with her only ally. "Hey guys, maybe you should just calm down a bit." Kara intervened, as she and Sira walked to the back of the store. "Shut up!" They said at the same time, turning their attention to Kara. "You have no room to talk, you're here for, like, a month and you've already got Leon and Dom fighting about you and you haven't even told Dom how you feel about Leon, you haven't even told Leon for that matter." Mia said turning her aggression on to Kara. "Yeah, and you know what Kara? Leon really likes you and your acting like its just a fling, well that's not the way he sees it." Letty jumped in. "Well I don't know if I want a boyfriend right now. Why do I have to decide if Leon is THE ONE right now!" Kara countered. "You better not hurt him Kara." Letty replied. "Oh, you mean like the way you're hurting my cousin?" Kara retorted. "Ok, that's enough guys!" Sira said. "Time out, y'all need to just calm down a bit." The girls all glared at her. "There's a customer over there." Sira said in soft sing-song voice. The girls looked over and there was a guy in the entryway. The guy sat down at the counter and leafed through a magazine that was in front of him. Letty stared in awe and caught Mia and Kara doing the same. He was tall with dark, shiny, curly hair, and dressed in just jeans and t-shirt but he filled them out very nicely. He was a combination of Tom Cruise and Heath Ledger. The previous tension in the room lifted. Mia and Letty dried their eyes. After a moment of silence he smiled at the girls, they all smiled back.  
  
By around 3 there wasn't much left to do at the garage or Harry's. The guys decided to go over to the store. When they got there they noticed that Letty and Sira were already there and must have gone to help with the lunch crowd. There was also someone else there that they didn't recognize, but by the looks on the girls faces, he was welcome. The guys went and sat in the back table behind the counter, the girls barely nodded hello to them, they just stayed keeping their focus on dark stranger sitting at the counter eating chips and a sandwich. What the hell is the big deal about this punk, Dom thought to himself as he watched Letty wipe down the counter without taking her eyes off of him. He looks like a reject desperado, he heard Leon whispered to Brian who was also noticing the stranger's affect on his wife. Mia leaned up against the counter just watching the guy eat. Vince rolled his eyes as he saw Sira hand the guy a handful of napkins. After about seven minutes of the dark-haired guy reading his paper and eating, while the girls were just watching him and the guys watching the girls watch him, he got up and left waving a little goodbye. "Who was that?" Dom asked, looking directly at Letty, who was watching him ride away. Letty turned and shrugged her shoulders and tried to make herself look busy by clearing the newspaper off the counter. "Mia? Do you know who that was?" Brian said with almost no expression. "Just a customer, that's a good thing, remember?" Mia answered sensing the strain in his voice. "Nah, that was the guy from the races!" Vince pointed out, remembering. "Oh, yeah, K.C. right?" Letty recalled. Everyone looked at her, she shrugged. "What? I just got his name 'cause he was new to the scene, not cause I want to fuck him." Letty snapped at the guys, looking at Dom in particular. "Well if you chicks can wipe the drool of your chins, maybe we could close the store early and head home." Leon said raising his eyebrows. Kara tried to lighten the mood and smiled and said jokingly that they might need a mop and bucket for that. The guys remained unamused while Letty and Mia both tried not to giggle. "Sorry for being human." Kara said sarcastically to Dom when he gave her one of his looks. Vince glared at Sira who didn't bother hiding her smile. "Don't be all mad V." Sira said with a sweet voice. "You know I love you." "I'm not all mad." Vince replied, crossing his arms and obviously pouting. "Then don't give me that look." She wrapped her arms around his waist. "Well, just don't make it a habit of checking out other guys in front of me, k?" Vince hugged her back and kissed her forehead. Way to get sucked in Vince, Dom thought.  
  
When the team got to the Toretto house, everyone went about to do their own thing. Dom and Brian went out to the garage to lift weights. Sira and Vince decided to go to her house. Leon asked Kara if she wanted to go out to a movie, but she declined, hurt, he went to work out in the garage too. Kara walked into the kitchen where Mia silently made lasagna and Letty just sat, drinking a Corona. "Guys, I really want to talk about what we all said at the store earlier." Kara started. "I just want you to know that I am going to tell Dom tonight that I really like Leon and I want him to lay off of us. And I'm going to tell Leon too." Kara sat down across from Letty. "Good. I'm glad. I didn't mean to make you feel bad, Kara. It was just all the stress over worrying about the shop and about Dom and everyone else that got to me, ya know?" Mia said as laid out the noodle layers to dry. "I'm sorry too." Letty spoke up. "And I'm sorry for yelling at you Mi. I don't know what I want and until I do, I shouldn't put Dom through so much shit and then expect you to back me up." "I'm sorry too Letty, ok, now we're all sorry and we're all forgiven right?" Mia smiled. Kara and Letty nodded their heads in agreement. "Now we can talk about that hottie K.C.!" "Mia, you married woman, you shouldn't be talking about any hotties other than the one in the garage with the ring on his finger." Kara exclaimed. Mia shrugged. "Like Letty said, I don't want to fuck him!" All the girls laughed out loud. "He is hot, and did you see how jealous the guys got, oh spare me!" Letty giggled. "Yeah, who knows if he'll ever come by the store again with the looks that they gave him. I mean if looks could kill, he'd be dead four times over!" Kara joked.  
  
Dom could hear laughing coming from the kitchen and rolled his eyes at Leon and Brian. Leon made talking motions with his hands and mimicked the girls. "That guy was sooooo hot!" Leon imitated with one hand. "Oh I know he he heeee!" he said with the other. "And they say we're immature." Leon said in a normal voice, shaking his head. "I'll never understand chicks, you'd think having a sister would help, it doesn't help shit!" Dom said. "I mean Letty is the most confusing person I've ever known." "It didn't used to be that way remember Dom?" Leon asked as he spotted Brian on the bench press. "Remember when she used to follow you around all lovestruck!" Leon laughed. "Yeah, well then she was just a kid with a crush, now she's suggestive and flirtatious and then rejecting and indifferent, a real chick, ya know!" Dom responded. They heard laughter from the house again. "Fuck this! I'm going for a drive!" Dom exclaimed and walked out of the garage to his car parked on the street. Leon followed and got into his own car. Brian walked into the kitchen and just shook his head as he walked past the instantly quiet girls. Dom drove up to the beach and then followed a road up the coast. What Leon had said reminded him of how he and Letty had first gotten together. She was sixteen when he had gotten out of Lompoc, sixteen and gorgeous, he remembered. But his stubbornness kept him from doing anything about it. It wasn't until she turned eighteen that he just couldn't resist anymore, they were alone at the garage and one thing led to another and another thing led to the supply room. Dom smiled to himself, they were just friends those first two years out. She dated, but no one for very long, mostly she just liked to work at the garage. But when they had finally gotten together, it was as if they had always been that way, they just clicked instantly. Dom exhaled slowly, now this shit, he thought. The past is past, I can't have it repeating itself, he thought.  
  
Live and Let Die 16  
  
It was early in the morning when Dom got to shop the next day, but Letty was there before him. They started cleaning up in silence, Letty in the office and Dom in the garage. After awhile, Leon, V, and Brian arrived and by noon, the garage was looking closer to normal. It just missed all the cars that were usually there, along with parts and tools. They all went to the nearby coffee shop for lunch to discuss the Trans. Waiting for their next move wasn't a popular idea but it was the only thing that made sense. Extra precautions were also discussed; the guys decided that none of the girls would be left alone at the Toretto house without one of them there. Letty snorted at the idea but agreed that there was some safety to that plan. They were also going to install a security system at the shop and store, with some of the insurance money. Money was going to be tight for a while, so the racing was gonna have to be put on hold too, Dom told them.  
  
After eating, Leon and Vince went to Harry's and Brian had some errands to run. Letty asked Dom if they could stay and talk a while. At first they just talked about what they would do when they did find the Trans. But then she couldn't help but ask how he was doing with everything that had happened between the two of them. "So, uh, are you cool with us now?" Letty asked almost timidly. "Us? There is no us Letty, you've made that perfectly clear. And I'm fine with that, there hasn't been an us for two years." Dom replied. Letty tried hard not to show a disappointed reaction. "Well, I just want us, I mean, you and I, to be able to stay friends and part of the team." Letty said, trying hard not to care that it was actually over between them. "The team is forever Letty, you know that." Dom said as he stood up. He said goodbye and that he'd see her later and then left. Not knowing what else to do, Letty put her head down on the table and tried to keep herself from crying. What is my problem, she asked herself, this is what I wanted, wasn't it?  
  
As Dom walked in the door to the house, his cell rang. "Yeah?" He asked. "Dom, that guy K.C. was hangin' round the store again today. Mia said that he asked about Letty." Brian told him right away. Dom sat down and ran his hand over his head, this is all I need, he thought. "Dom? You there Dom?" Brian said. "Yeah. So why is this important to me, Letty isn't mine." Dom said with little patience. "I got a bad feelin about this dude. It just don't feel right." Brian replied "So what do you wanna do? We can't worry about this now, we got Trans to think about." Dom said. "I'm gonna have a buddy of mine run a background check, Mia got his last name, so I'm gonna find out more 'bout him." Brian offered. "Fine, whatever." Dom said, then hung up.  
  
Later that night, Mia and Kara told Letty they were coming over to see her and had some interesting news. After sulking all day and then a hard workout, Letty wasn't really in the mood, but when it came to gossip, Mia could never be dissuaded. Once they got to her place they told that K.C. had come by and was asking about her. "Like what did he ask?" Letty questioned, not sure if she should be flattered or worried. "Just if you usually worked there, if you were going to races this weekend, that kind of stuff." Mia answered. Letty sat back on her sofa thoughtfully, he was brutally hot, she reasoned with herself. Maybe she should go to the races, she thought. "Um, Let?" Kara asked. "Did something happen between you and Dom today?" "No. Nothing happened." Letty said. Nothing is ever gonna happen either, she thought to herself. "Oh, cause today I told him that I didn't want anymore grief about Leon, because I really like him and I'm gonna see him no matter what he says. And he just muttered 'great, that's all I need'." Kara tried to imitate Dom's deep voice. "He's just stressed out. But that's cool that you told him. What did you tell Leon?" Letty asked. Mia smiled big and so did Kara. "I told him that I really cared about him and wanted to give a relationship with him a shot! He was sooooo cute about it!" Kara squealed. "He was, later on he came by the house and gave her flowers! He is so smitten with her!" Mia cried. "The guys totally ragged on him for making them look bad!" "It was super sweet, and totally unexpected. I mean, just looking at him, you wouldn't think he was a romantic, ya know?" Kara gushed. "That's cool." Letty said, trying to muster up some excitement for Kara. "The most romantic thing Dom ever gave me were NOS tanks, which were actually pretty cool." Letty said smiling wistfully. "Brian is a total bonehead when it comes to romance! On our honeymoon, instead of wine or champagne, he had room service send up Corona! We might as well have just been here for that!" Mia laughed.  
  
"So you and my cousin, eh?" Dom took a swig of Corona. All the guys were sitting out in the garage, even when the girls weren't home, they retreated there. "Yeah." Leon took a drink of his, and looked nervously at Dom. "Break her heart, I'll break your neck." Dom said in an even tone. Vince and Brian couldn't help but smile. "Nice touch with the flowers." Vince gave Leon a punch in the arm. Leon just smiled and shrugged. "Don't tell Sira or she'll start bringing up the fact that it's been months since she's gotten flowers. But she'll conveniently forget the bracelet I just got her." Vince smirked. "And besides, weren't you the one who hated working for a girl's affection?" "Hey, when it comes to Kara, it's not work." Leon smiled slyly and then stopped, when he saw the look on Dom's face. They turned as they saw lights flood the driveway. Time to go in, Dom thought.  
  
The next day at the garage cars were starting to come back. Thanks to Harry and Edwin and some others, people started trusting DT's again. The big surprise came late in the afternoon, when a pimped out dark silver supra pulled into the garage. The guy stepped out of the car and you could almost hear all the air get sucked out of the garage. Oh no this fucker did not just come into my garage, thought Dom as he gave K.C. a once over. He asked for Letty and before Dom could tell him where to go, Letty was standing in between them with a clipboard asking what she could help him with. Fine. What-fucking-ever, Dom thought and he walked to the back of the shop. Vince, Leon and Brian followed and they all huddled around a Jetta, pretending not to listen. Dom watched as Letty wrote down some notes and took his keys. After he left, Dom turned to Brian and told him to tell his friend to hurry up with the background check on K.C. "Hey ladies, can we cut the gossip and get back to work please? Or are you afraid your gonna break a nail?" Dom heard Letty yell from the front of the garage. "I'm just askin Leon if my ass looks bigger in these jeans!" Vince yelled back. "It does!" Letty called out on her way to the office.  
  
Letty stood in front of her mirror in the corner of her bedroom. She tilted her head to one side, if Dom doesn't kill me, Mia most definitely will, she thought. She turned around and checked out her backside view. Yeah, talking about other guys is one thing, actually going out with them is another, she reminded herself. Letty shook her head, this isn't a date, this isn't a date, she repeated in her head. Letty grabbed her keys of the dresser and headed out the door. Pulling up to Sira's house, she couldn't help but think 'I should never have asked Sira to do this with me, V is going to kill us both!'. Letty smiled at the thought, I'm gonna die many times over for this night! Sira came running out looking very hot and jumped into the car. She tried to reassure Letty that this wasn't going to be a problem, they were just going to the races to watch, not race. Dom hadn't said anything about just watching the races. And if they saw K.C. then they saw K.C., it didn't have to turn scandalous, she reasoned. Letty nodded silently, not believing a word. When they got to the races, they were greeted with the usuals and asked where the rest of the team was, which made Letty feel even more guilty. "So where's the gang?" K.C. asked as he approached Letty and Sira. "The team, is busy with other things tonight." Letty corrected him. Sira nodded hello, then went to talk with Hector. "To bad, I was hoping to race Toretto." K.C. said as he looked Letty up and down. Feeling suddenly uncomfortable in her own skin, Letty leaned against her car and said, "Well, maybe some other time." She looked away. "Yeah. Well, I'm glad too see you." He leaned against the car. "Yeah? Why is that?" She asked with a hint of cynicism. "Cause I think your cool, and I wanted to see you." He turned toward her. "Well, maybe if your nice, I'll let you see me again sometime." Letty walked off toward Sira and Hector. After watching one race, she was already tired enough to want to go home. When Letty and Sira pulled up to Sira's house, they were greeted by a disapproving look from Vince. Sira tried a quick explanation but Vince just silenced her with a stern, 'I don't want to hear it'. After calling the Toretto house and just quickly telling them that they were home, Vince hung up his cell and walked to his car and drove off without a goodbye or another word. Letty looked at Sira and apologized, Sira told her not to worry, it would work out, Letty wasn't so sure. When she got home there were 5 new messages on her machine, grabbing some ice cream out of the freezer, she hit play and sat on the counter to listen. First one was from Mia: "Girl, I hope you didn't go to the races tonight! Call me back! Bye!" Letty smiled, shook her head and took another bite. Second was from Mia: "Letty, pick up! If you don't, I'm gonna tell Dom that you went to the races and he's going to be pissed! Call me! Bye!" Third one, from Mia: "Dom's pissed! He's callin all over and now him and V are pissed because apparently Sira's missing in action as well. I bet you know something about that! Call me!" Letty rolled her eyes. Then came the fourth from Dom: "Let, it's Dom, I need to know where you are, call back to the house." The fifth: "Letty, I need to talk to you. Call when you get in no matter what time it is, I hope you're okay." Letty looked at the machine thoughtfully. She picked up the phone and dialed.  
  
  
  
New Blood, Bad Blood 17  
  
Dom answered the phone as soon as it rang, trying to remain calm he told Letty what Brian had found out about K.C. As patiently as he could, Dom explained that Brian had found out that K.C. was from San Francisco. He used to work for Lance's father, Kato Tran, as a runner. Although, he has nothing officially linking him to Trans down in L.A., he currently works at a law firm that has been known to handle Tran business affairs, and he's driving their company car and riding a bike that Kato Tran gave him as a gift before he moved to L.A. When Dom was finished telling Letty all of this, he didn't hear anything on the other line, for a second he thought she'd hung up. "So what now?" She asked finally. "Well, for one thing, we don't fix his car and you don't have anything to do with him." Dom replied in a huff. "Fine." She replied. "What happened tonight at the races?" Dom asked, since she was being agreeable, he figured he would try to get as much info as he could. "Nothing, I talked to him for about five minutes, then Sira and I watched one race with Hector, then we left. We were only gone for an hour and a half Dom." Letty said in an even tone. "I don't want to fight about what happened tonight, okay Letty. I was worried and so was the team, you know better than to pull that shit. But your not my responsibility, just take better care of yourself ok?" Dom hung up the phone. "Fuck." He breathed out loud. Only an hour and a half? A lot of shit coulda happened in that time, he thought. Why is she being so fucking careless, he wondered. If anything ever happens to her, he stopped himself, no, I'm not even going to think about what it would do to me, he warned himself.  
  
Letty thought for a minute before she turned out her bedroom light. Maybe, just staying away from K.C. isn't the best idea, maybe waiting for the Trans next move isn't either. Maybe Mia's right, it's time for all this rivalry drama shit to be over, Letty thought. In the morning Letty left a note in the garage for everyone to meet her at the coffee house. Surprised and confused, the guys walked into the coffee house and sat at the corner booth where she was. Without wasting time or answering their questioning glances she told them about her plan. After she was done, she leaned back, called the waitress over, and ordered waffles, the guys stammered along and ordered their usuals. "Letty, are you crazy?" Leon asked, as soon as the waitress was gone. "No, I'm finally thinking clearly. This shit needs to end. Obviously Johnny's death didn't end it, but I think Lance's will. There's no other family men after him, the only guys that roll with them are punks, hired guns that aren't worth shit. If we take down Lance, then that's it for the Trans shit in L.A. Kato Tran isn't gonna come down here, not from the sweet set up he's got going in San Fran." Letty stirred cream into her coffee and waited for more objections. "But what about this K.C. guy? What if he takes over and now we've got another blood vengeance?" Brian asked. "He's not a Tran, so he won't take over the business, he'll probably just disappear, or go back to Kato, if he'll have him." Letty replied. "But your talking about using yourself as bait Let, and you know you can't trust this guy or Trans, so who knows what could happen." Vince said with concern. "Look, I've made up my mind that this is something I wanna do. I know you guys can see that this is worth a shot because I can see you thinking about it. If your only hesitation is me being in danger, forget about it, it's my life and I can take risks for the team too. I've done it before, and I know the consequences so don't get all protective on me now, cause you know I don't take that bullshit." Letty stopped when she saw the waitress come up with all their food. Letty looked at Dom, he was the only one who hadn't said anything. "If we're going to do this, we're going to have to do it right, that means, if I decide to change something, then we do it, okay?" Dom looked right back at Letty. Everyone nodded and they spent the rest of the meal talking over details.  
  
Dom sat down at the kitchen table and ate dinner alone. He tried to read the paper, but couldn't focus enough to understand anything he read. He kept going over in his mind, the morning meeting and everything that Letty had said. He thought over each part again and again. It sounded simple enough, Letty would ask K.C. out and the guys would show up later and beat him into telling them where Lance was and then they'd go there and surprise him. But what ifs plagued his mind. Even though I say she's not mine, I still feel like she is, he thought.  
  
Letty flipped mindlessly through the various T.V. stations that basic cable came with. Hearing a knock, she got up to find Sira crying on her doorstep. Letty had never seen Sira loose it like that. They went to her room and sat on her bed and talked about it. Vince had never been that angry with her before and she was really scared that maybe things would never be the same between them. Letty tried to reassure her, but it didn't help very much. "I don't even know why I care." Sira said as her sobs calmed. "I always knew deep down that V and I wouldn't last, we are too different. But now that it's over, I don't know what I'm going to do without him." She sobbed softly. "Sira, did he say it was over?" Letty asked intently. "No, but he said he didn't even want to look at me because he was so mad." Sira replied. "Girl, that just means he's still pissed, it's not over. Not until he tells you it is. He loves you! He'll get over this, it's mostly my fault anyways. I'll talk to him, k?" Letty responded, trying to make light of it. After Sira left, Letty called Vince and told him to come over. He argued with her at first, but then just agreed. "Last night was my fault V, not Sira's." Letty said right off the bat. "I don't want to hear it from you Let." Vince walked into the kitchen and grabbed some of the leftover pizza from the fridge. "Too bad, cause your gonna." Letty grabbed a paper towel and handed it to him. "Sira is freaking out 'cause she thinks you two are breaking up, why can't you just talk to her." "You don't understand Let." Vince shook his head and focused on eating his cold slice of pizza. "Then explain it to me." Letty leaned against the kitchen counter and crossed her arms. Vince looked at her and saw that she wasn't going to let him go until he talked to her. He sighed, then set his pizza down. "Last night was the worst night of my life Letty. I thought Sira was dead somewhere or hurt or something. You don't even want to know how horrible that feeling is." He looked up at her. "V, exactly who do you think your talking too? I know exactly how it feels, but try stretching that feeling out for about four years. That's how I felt every time Dom walked out the door and didn't bother to say where he was going or doing." Letty pointed out. "Well, I've never felt that way okay, all-knowing, wise one." He replied sarcastically, Letty rolled her eyes. "So why can't you forgive her, or at least talk to her about it?" She asked. "Cause the feeling scared me, maybe I'm getting in too deep with Sira." V answered. "Uh, V, hate to tell you, but you've been in too deep with her for about a year." Letty smiled. "Nuh-uh, we've just been seeing each other, nothing too serious." V defended. "Oh wake up V! You've been sprung on her since the beginning! I can't believe you're just now realizing it!" Letty had to laugh. That Vince could be so clueless wasn't new. But knowing that their love had caught Sira off guard too, well that was just funny. Finally convinced he should talk to Sira, Vince left and Letty sat down and nibbled at the pizza he left.  
  
The next afternoon Dom leaned against the wall outside the garage office door. He could hear Letty talking to K.C. and fought the inner rage to rush in there and hang up the phone. She accepted his invitation to go to a rave tomorrow night, he hung his head down and closed his eyes. Please God, don't let anything happen to her, he prayed silently. When she walked out of the office, she just told him that it was all set up and walked off to K.C.'s car to work on it. Dom walked to the supply room to get a fan belt for the Subaru he was working on when he heard Kara's voice from the half-open door. Turning away, since he knew the kind of trouble that could come from eavesdropping, he ran straight into Mia. He shushed her when she opened her mouth to speak and motioned that something was going on in the supply room. Grinning, she leaned in closer to hear better. Rolling his eyes, Dom leaned in too, if we get caught I can blame Mia, he thought. "It's dangerous Leon and nothing you say is going to make me think any different." They heard Kara say. "Baby, it's all very planned and afterward we won't have to worry about them anymore." Mia and Dom looked at each other. They're arguing about the Tran set up, Dom thought as he leaned in closer. "I don't like it Leon, and I don't like that you're acting like my opinion doesn't even matter. You could get hurt or worse!" Kara hissed. "I don't know why you're making it such a big deal. It has nothing to do with you." Leon tried to reason. "It's only my family and my boyfriend!" Kara whispered loudly. "If this is the kind of lifestyle you intend to have, I don't know what kind of relationship you expect from me, because I can't handle this!" Mia and Dom scooted to behind a corner as they heard Kara storm out of the supply room and Leon try to follow her. Mia glared at her brother, accusations radiating from her dark eyes. "What?!" Dom defended. Mia just shook her head and went to the office.  
  
  
  
Watch Your Back 18  
  
Dom sat on the corner of his bed. This can't be healthy, he thought as cleaned the gun his dad gave him when he was fifteen. They killed Jesse, I killed Johnny, now we're going to kill Lance, are we really going to get away clean on this one, he wondered. Dom slipped the gun into the back of his pants and put a shirt over his undershirt. He leaned up against his bureau and looked in the mirror. Pictures of the team and of Mia caught his eye. Shaking his head, he took a long breath in and exhaled loudly. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer for Letty. When he opened them, he looked directly into the mirror, my family needs to be safe, he told himself. A knock at his door signaled it was time to go.  
  
People have been saying it for years and now I know why, Letty thought as she looked at herself in her bathroom mirror. I'm crazy, out of my mind, insane, she concluded. No other girl would throw her life away working with a bunch of rough neck guys in a garage, nor would a sane woman start high-jacking semis to finance illegal street-racing, and what kind of chick is willing to go up against the Trans just to protect the rough-neck guys that got her into high-jacking and street-racing to begin with, she thought as she leaned against the sink, applying mascara. She stood up straight and turned to Kara, who was sitting on her bed, and asked her what she thought of her outfit. Kara nodded approvingly. Letty sat beside her and tried to explain for the millionth time that this was the best plan under the circumstances. Kara still wasn't convinced which just frustrated Letty and she went back into the bathroom to do something with her hair. Five minutes later Letty and Kara headed to her car. The Rave was jumping when Kara and Letty walked in the warehouse double-doors. Letty instructed Kara to go to a corner quickly, which was one of the agreements they had for allowing her to come at all. When Leon sees her, he's gonna flip, Letty thought as she made her way through the crowd looking for K.C. K.C. found her first. Linking his hand with hers he pushed his way through the dense crowd to a less crowded area near the back.  
  
Dom walked into the warehouse, behind him were Leon and Brian. All three of them were strapped and ready for whatever. The music was pulsing and the whole smell of the place was making him nauseous. They made their way slowly through the crowd, toward the back.  
  
Letty chewed her gum nervously as she tried to dance with K.C. Behind her she felt a sharp object and inhaled quickly before feeling a strong arm grab her by the waist turning her around to be face to face with Lance Tran. Not being able to say anything that would be heard over the music, she just glared at him. This isn't exactly going according to plan, she thought. Trying to struggle as they drug her out the back door, her yelling was useless because of the music. Once out there, she found her voice again. "Lance, you fucking bastard!" She spat at him as K.C. took hold of her. Lance came right up to her and backhanded her face. Pain shot through Letty's jaw and she could feel a trickle of blood run down her chin. Isn't the first time, she thought bitterly. "I would stay quiet if I were you." K.C. muttered. Letty stomped down hard on his foot. Cursing, he threw her against the wall, pulled a gun out and put it in her face. Letty struggled to stand up. K.C. took a step foward, but a hit from the back door knocked him to the ground. "Letty?" Kara cried as she stepped outside of the warehouse. Instantly she was grabbed by a Tran goon and Letty stood there shaking her head. "Kara, what did I tell you?" another goon backed her into the wall with his gun. In all, Lance had brought three of his little punks with him. K.C. was still on the ground. "Well, I didn't know where you went." Kara struggled against the strong hold that had her. "Oh, I'm just getting luckier and luckier!" Lance laughed as he motioned to one of his goons to go get the car. "Kara, you fucking idiot!" Letty yelled at her. Taken aback, Kara spat back, "Your one to talk, thinking you could handle K.C. on your own. Stupid!" "Oh, if he doesn't kill you I will." Letty pointed to Lance, who seemed amused at their squabbling. "Good luck with that Chiquita!" Kara laughed back. Letty glared at her and then tried to push past her captor. "You ungrateful bitch! You beg me to come and now you fuck it all up!!" Letty screamed. "What the fuck is going on here?" Lance questioned. "Good question." Said the an unmistakable voice from behind him.  
  
Dom fired as soon as Lance turned around. Before he even hit the ground Leon and Brian fired on him too. Letty kneed the goon in the balls and threw a right hook that sent him down. The guy holding Kara threw her against the wall and turned to shoot at Dom, but Brian got him first with a bullet in the shoulder. Collapsing on the ground, Leon kicked him the stomach and picked up his gun. He ran to Kara who was on the ground and unconscious. Brian grabbed K.C. and pulled him to where Dom was standing over Lance's body. "If you don't want this to be you, you'll go and I'll never see you again." Dom knocked him on the head with the gun. Leon picked Kara up and started walking her to the car. Dom could hear her say to him, "Leon, this is not necessary, I'm okay! Put me down.". Brian was on his cell and talking to Mia to let her and Sira know everything was okay. "Where's V?" Letty walked up to Dom. "He got the driver." Dom replied, not taking his eyes off of Lance's body. "Let's go." Letty slipped her hand into Dom's and gently pulled him toward the car that Vince was waiting in.  
  
Opportunity Knocks 19  
  
The drive home was silent. Letty still hadn't let go of Dominic's hand. Everything's going to be okay now, she thought to herself, no more rivalry bullshit, no more drama. Vince pulled up to the house and Dom and Letty stepped out of the front seat. Vince was greeted by Sira who ran and jumped into his arms, she looked like she'd been crying. Brian was greeted in the same fashion and immediately took Mia upstairs. Probably trying to spare the team a lecture from her, Letty thought as she walked up the stairs. She turned back to see Leon carrying Kara from his car. She kept insisting on being left alone, but Leon wasn't hearing it. Sitting around the kitchen table, no one really knew what to say, but count on Sira to break the ice. "So it's over now right?" she questioned no one in particular. "Yeah, it's over." Dom responded wearily as he ran his hand over his head. He looked over at Kara who was sitting in Leon's lap. "I'm not going to tell you how dangerous it was for you to be there, I'm not even going to lecture you about the shit you could have caused. I'm sending you back to your parents." "Dom! Wha . . . what?!? I was so worried about you guys!!" Kara got up and faced Dom. She was in complete shock. Letty's mouth dropped, I'm the one who let her come, where's he going to send me, she thought. "I'm not arguing about it with you Kara. Tomorrow I'm calling Aunt Sandra and I'm telling her your going home early. That's final." He stood up and walked straight up to his room. Leon pulled Kara back to him as she started to cry, he tried to soothe her, telling her Dom would get over it, but Letty didn't believe that, and neither did Kara. I've got to talk to him about this, Letty thought and said quick goodnights to V and Sira as they left and tried to assure Kara that she would do everything she could to convince Dom to let her stay. Tapping on the door lightly, she heard Dom say 'come in'.  
  
As soon as she came into the room Dom pulled her into an engulfing hug and held her there for a minute. He felt her body relax and hold on to him. He leaned his head down and whispered in her ear. "I love you." Hearing her small gasp, he pulled away and in the darkness took her face between his hands and kissed her gently. She responded slowly at first, then with more intensity. Feeling her reaction, he kissed her harder and his hands started roaming south. Cupping her ass with his hands, he picked her up and sat her up on his bureau. She leaned forward and yanked his shirt of his back and then did the same with his undershirt, tossing them to the side she kissed him longingly. A low growl escaped his throat and he reached for the buttons on her skin tight leather pants. Pulling them off in a smooth motion, Letty was left sitting atop the bureau in her black thong and white tank-bra. Grabbing him by his belt buckle, she pulled him toward her and stared into his eyes as she undid his pants. Lifting her up, Dom stepped out of his pants and toward the bed. Dom remembered that he had gone commando, so the only thing between them was her thong. That wasn't a problem, he reached for them and in an instant of excitement accidentally ripped them off rather than pulled them off. Sitting up, he looked at the ripped thong in his hand, shit, did that hurt her, fuck, the mood is ruined, he thought instantly. Letty sat herself up, grabbed the ripped thong and threw it to the corner and wrapped her arms around Dom's neck bring him back down to the bed. Thank God! He thought. Feeling her grab his dick he pulled her tank off, gently this time and she smiled. Slowly she guided him to her and nodded as he moved to enter her. At first he moved slow, but as she tensed her muscles around him, he increased his speed. He rolled over to sit her on top of him, he remembered what she liked.  
  
Letty rode Dom steadily at first, then increased her rocking and then slowing it down. She leaned down and kissed him as he reached down and fondled her clit, making her even wetter and grasped his shoulders as they came together.  
  
"So, still worried about my endurance?" Dom asked a sheet and sweat covered Letty after their third love-making session of the early morning. Letty smiled devilishly. "Well, you're not getting any younger Dom, but I'd say your doing okay." She teased. "Well maybe you should start working out more, I thought you were going to fall asleep on me for a moment that last time." He laughed a deep, throaty laugh. It was 4:30 A.M. "How could I with all your moanin'! I bet no one else in the house slept either!" Letty gave him a playful push. "My moanin?! Better than your screamin! There ain't anyone in L.A. who doesn't know my name now!" He pushed back. "Well, I bet there ain't any girls who don't know your name" Letty laughed. "Hey! That's below the belt Let!" Dom feigned a hurt look. "I've changed babe." Letty settled into a pillow and closed her eyes. "Whatever Dom." She muttered as she fell asleep. Dom smirked and pulled her toward him. "I thought you hated cuddling." Letty whispered sleepily. "I told you I changed." He kissed her forehead.  
  
"Are you really going to kick Kara out Dom." Letty asked as she sat at the edge of the bed lacing up her boots. Dom looked at her from inside the bathroom and nodded. He spit out his toothpaste and rinsed his mouth. Leaning against the bathroom doorway, he said, "It's not really kicking her out, she was supposed to leave at the end of the summer anyway. I'm just sending her home a little early." "I let her come Dom, she was really freaked out. I think she's in love with Leon and as we both know, love makes you do crazy things." Letty tried to reason. Why do we have to talk about Kara when all I really want to do is get naked again, Dom thought as he stared hungrily at her. "Don't give me that look Dom! I'm already dressed!" Letty shrieked as Dom charged toward her.  
  
Emerging from upstairs at around noon, Letty realized that the house was empty. How thoughtful of Mia, Letty smiled. Popping a bagel in the toaster-oven, Letty sat at the table and drank some leftover coffee. Dom walked in and smiled. "So now what?" he asked. "I don't know, I guess whatever we want." Letty shrugged, and smiled back. "I want to take it slow" she licked her lips and tilted her head. "We can go as slow as you want." He answered.  
  
The next Saturday morning Dom let himself sleep late and didn't get up until ten A.M. He stumbled out of bed and down the stairs to the kitchen. The phone rang and he winced as if it caused him pain. Mia asked who it was and let out a squeal and started talking real fast. Dom wondered who it was as he made himself a bowl of cereal and took it into the living room. What time is Letty coming over, he wondered. That girls night out couldn't have been too bad, Mia still got up early, he thought. He couldn't hear Mia talking anymore and he started to wonder who was on the phone that could make Miss Chatterbox stay quiet. A while later, Mia came into the living room and turned off the T.V. and sat across from Dom. Sensing it was something serious, he didn't even get mad when she turned off his cartoons. Mia explained to him that it was Israel on the phone, their cousin who now lives in Miami. After telling Dom about his situation there Mia waited for his response. Miami? Why does it have to be Miami, Dom wondered. Will Letty come, was his next thought. Things had been going pretty good for the past week even though she hadn't been able to make him budge on sending Kara home this Wednesday. But a move? "We have to go Dom. Israel needs our help and you've always said family comes first. Besides, after all that shit went down, I just really want to get outta Dodge, ya know?" Mia explained. "Well, while we're off saving his shop, who's gonna run ours. What about the store? Leon, Kara, Vince and Sira, and what about Letty. You think they're just gonna want to pick up an move too? I don't think you've thought this through Mia." Dom got up and put his cereal bowl in the sink. "Oh, when have you ever known me to not think about all the consequences?" Mia stood across from him. Dom looked up. "Uh, what about the white boy upstairs who is now my brother in-law? Don't tell me that you thought that all the way through when you first met him." Dom laughed. "Look, I've already thought of everything. Israel told me about a great med school in Miami and Brian has been wanting to help Harry franchise RACER'S EDGE. So that takes care of the O'Connors." Mia said with a smile. I will never get used to that name, I thought. "Okaaaaaaay." I said slowly, not convinced. "Well Kara can go to school there too and Leon will be happy to move with us. You know he doesn't have any family but us anyways. Sira can work anywhere there's a hospital, and Vince, well V will go where we go, as long as we take Sira with us. That just leaves Letty. And since you too are back together, well, I'm sure you can convince her! We can sell the store and the garage and start over in Miami. It's beautiful there Dom! And we'll never have to worry about Trans and there is racing down there too." Mia reasoned. Dom looked at her. He could see the pleading in her eyes. "Fine, we'll have a team meeting to discuss it."  
  
"Bienvenidos a Miami!!" Mia squealed happily at Letty before wrapping her arms around her neck. "Girl, what are you talking about?" Letty muttered as Mia squeezed her. "Remember my cousin Israel from Miami?" Mia stepped back. Letty nodded. "Well he needs some help with his garage, he's totally desperate! So he asked Dom for help and now we want the whole team to move to Miami to help take care of the shop! I already checked out medical schools in Florida and found one right in Miami that is great! Brian's talking about getting a loan to franchise Racer's Edge, since the racing scene down there is as big down there as it is here, and Leon can't wait to go too! Kara's situation is still up in the air, but I think this is going to work out wonderfully. We still have to talk to Sira and V, but I'm sure they'd be down." Mia was talking real fast and slowed for a breath. "Wow, that's a lotta information to digest." Letty sat on the porch bench. "Well, you're coming right?" Mia asked, sitting next to her. "Uh, I don't know. What would I do in Miami." Letty turned to Mia. "Duh! You'd work in the shop with Dom and Leon. It would be just like being here, only there." Mia smiled. I wish it were that simple, Letty thought and looked down at her feet. "Why are you hesitating?" Mia asked. "Because that's a big move and a big decision Mi." Letty responded. Dom walked out there and motioned for everyone to get inside. Mia hopped into the living room, obviously excited. Letty followed slowly, and was stopped by Dom. "I guess she told you." He said without looking at her. "What do you think?" "I don't know yet." Was all she said and then walked into the house.  
  
  
  
Don't Want to Go, Don't Need to Stay, But I Really Need to Get it Together 20  
  
Everyone gathered in the backyard where Dom was barbequing. Mia quickly gave a run down of the situation and then left the floor open for debate. "When is this big move supposed to happen?" Sira asked. "In one week. We have to get down there as soon as possible." Dom answered her. "I'm there." Leon said as he stood up to help Dom with the grill. "Me too bro." Vince nodded his head, but stopped when he caught the surprised look from Sira. Without saying a word, she stood up and walked into the house. Mia and Letty quickly got up to follow her and Kara wasn't far behind. "Guess you shoulda checked with the missus." Leon kinda smirked. "Well I didn't see Kara jumping on the bandwagon either." V snapped back. Leon frowned.  
  
The girls walked into the kitchen to see Sira downing her beer. "Oh let's just up and move to Miami!" she shrieked as soon as she finished it. "Does he even care if I go with him or not?!" she exclaimed. "Sira, I think he just needs to get away from all the bullshit that's been going on recently." Mia tried to soothe her. Sira paced in the small kitchen space. Getting more and more worked up, she turned to the girls and said. "I can't just pick up and move in a week! I just started OR rotation and I've worked my ass off to get there and I don't want to start all over at some hospital that I won't even know anyone at." "I think you need to talk to V about this." Letty offered. "Why? He's already decided. 'Me too bro'" Sira imitated V's scruffy voice. "Well, maybe he just assumed too much. You know he's just trying to keep the team together." Mia said. "Look, I love you guys, I do. But I can't move right now. It would be one thing if he wanted to move and told me that, but instead he just assumes I'll follow his ass anywhere." She pulled out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table. "I don't really want to go either." Kara spoke up. Everyone turned to her. "What?!" Mia asked incredulously. "That's a lot of pressure to put on a relationship that still could go either way, I mean Leon and I are very different. I care about him a lot, but I don't know if I should move somewhere just to be with him." She explained. "But you were heartbroken about leaving for home early. And what about what happened last week?" Mia asked confused. "Especially because of what happened last week. Do you really think it's going to be all that different in Miami? Same guys, different city." Kara reasoned. Mia got up and walked outside after she looked at Letty and she just shrugged.  
  
Mia came outside with a defeated look on her face. "You guys better check your girls, because I don't think any of them are coming." She stated flatly and went to sit on Brian's lap. All mouths dropped simultaneously. Dom, Vince, and Leon all rushed to the door at once.  
  
"Kara! Why don't you want to move?" Leon asked breathless after fighting V and Dom to get in the kitchen first. "I don't really want to discuss it in front of everyone Leon." Kara turned to answer him. He nodded for them to go upstairs, she got up and he followed. "Sira, I know I should have talked to you about it first, I'm sorry." Vince apologized. "Now can we move Miami?" he asked hopefully. "V this isn't just about making a decision without me, it's about moving. I can't." Vince's face fell. He grabbed her hand and pulled her from her chair into the living room. Dom looked at Letty who was purposely avoiding his stare. "Letty, my cousin needs me. And I think Mia's right. A move would be good for the team right now. Get away from all this bullshit." He sat next to her. Letty looked at him and he knew instantly what her answer would be. "Dom, I can't go." Letty got up silently and walked out of the house.  
  
Letty drove home and some how made it up the steps to her apartment even through the tears in her eyes. She sat down on her couch and wondered why she couldn't go. Because if I did, I would be dependent on Dom for the rest of my life and I've worked too hard to get over that to just do it all over again, she told herself. I got back together with him because I love him not because I needed him to survive, she thought. But I do need him, she cried harder. What if I did go? But I love L.A., she thought, and I have friends here and I'm known here. In Miami, I would just be Toretto's girl again. And what if we broke up again and I was stuck in Miami. Letty couldn't get straight what she wanted. Memories flooded her mind. The first time she met Dom and Mia, she was only ten years old, Mia was that kid that every parent on their block would say 'why can't you be more like the 'Toretto's girl' about. Dom was fifteen and everyone would say, 'he's just like his dad', he was perfect, even then. Tears came to Letty's eyes as she thought of the first time she saw Dom after he got out of Lompoc, there was an instant connection that was deeper than love at first sight, it was like gravity. Shaking her head and wiping her nose with her sleeve, Letty walked over to her dresser and reached inside one of the drawers. She pulled out a picture of her and Dom on her eighteenth birthday. She smiled at the memory, she had been in love with Dom for as long as she could remember but it was on her eighteenth birthday that she finally felt that maybe he could love her back now that she was just old enough. So after her party she let him know how she felt and when he responded she almost died from the happiness. Suddenly frowning, she threw the picture back in the drawer and shut it. A year later was the first time he cheated on me, Letty thought to herself. Shit!! I thought I had gotten over all this crap! But it still hurt, and probably always would. I don't want to go through that again, she thought, but what if he really has changed this time.  
  
Dom started cleaning out his room. He really didn't know what else to do. Should I call her and beg her to come, or should I just let it be? He questioned if he should go at all. Israel needs me, he reminded himself. Besides, Mia deserves this and I know she wants me to go, he thought as he started taking pictures off his mirror. There was a great one of him, Letty, V, and Mia when he and V were eighteen and Mia and Letty were thirteen. They were at a race for Dom and Mia's dad. It was the race right before his last. Dom threw the picture into a box. He tossed in a couple others of his dad and mom and some of Mia and Letty's high school graduation. He remembered that day and smiled. Letty had barely passed her history class and didn't learn until the day before that she was able to graduate. Mia had so many honor cords around her that you could barely see her neck. It was a beautiful day and that next week was Letty's eighteenth birthday. Dom shoved those pics into the box with the others, as well as one of him, Leon, Brian and Jesse. They'd been working on Brian's Supra and since it was a hot day they'd taken their shirts off. Mia had made a joke that it would be a good pic for the DT Garage calendar and had taken a picture of them. He put it in his room after Jesse's funeral. The box was half full with pictures by now. Why the hell do I have so many pictures, Dom wondered out loud. "Because you don't want to let the best memories fade." Mia was standing in the doorway. "Oh, hey." He was startled, but not surprised that she was there to check on him. She walked over and picked up a picture of her and Letty on her twenty-first birthday. "Remember this?" Mia smiled. "Yeah, you got so drunk and actually sang while dancing on the coffee table." Dom laughed his throaty laugh. "Letty looks so pretty." Mia said softly. Dom gave her a look and yanked the picture and threw it in the box. "I tried, she doesn't want to go." "I know your definition of trying when it comes to Letty. And it's usually a half-ass, let me do as little as fucking possible, piss-poor job." Mia glared at him. "This doesn't involve you." Dom started picking up dirty clothes from the floor. "Bullshit. She's my best friend Dom. There's a ton of pics in that box of me and her! I love her too and I want her to go!" Mia crossed her arms over her chest. "Then you try and convince her!" Dom's voice boomed. Mia didn't look startled. He felt bad for yelling at her. "Look, I'll try again, but I can't make her come." He said in a soft voice. Seeming satisfied she walked out of the room. "Work on Sira though. 'Cause Vince is my best- friend!" he called after her.  
  
"Hello?" Letty picked up the phone, knowing exactly who it was. "Please come. I want you to move with us." Dom's voice made her want to cry YES!! "Moving to Miami is not taking it slow Dom. In fact I think that's kinda like warp speed!" Letty argued. "Well I'm ready for it babe. I'm ready for us to live together again and for us to start over in a new place." He tried to convince her. Letty rolled her eyes, what if I'm not, she thought. "Letty I want you to come, but if you don't, you know what that's going to do to our relationship don't you?" Dom asked in a weary voice. "I know." "And that's okay with you?" He asked incredulously. "Of course not, but I can't go Dom." "Can't or won't?" Dom asked. Letty stayed silent. "Fine, I'm gone." Dom hung up.  
  
Fuck, Dom thought as he rubbed his head. Mia called for him to come downstairs. This better be good fucking news, he thought. He headed down the stairs and saw Leon and Kara sitting in the living room. "I'm going." Kara said simply with a smile. Leon also smiled, triumphantly. "Great!" Mia hugged them both. "Great guys." Dom said. Already he was wondering exactly how they would arrange the living situations. As they started talking about that very subject, Vince and Sira burst through the door hand-in-hand. "We're getting married!" Vince announced and held up Sira's ringed hand. Everyone's jaw dropped. Dom sat down as Kara stood up to rush over and hug Sira. Squealing only got louder when Mia hugged her. Finally recuperating from the shock, Dom hugged Vince and then Sira, congratulating them. Mia rushed to call Letty over. "So now your coming right!" Mia was beside herself with excitement. "Uh, no." Vince sat down on the couch and pulled Sira into his lap. "What!" exclaimed Kara, Mia, and Dom at the same time. "I can't leave my job." Sira stated simply. "And I can't leave her." Vince finished. They were silent until Letty walked in. Sira waved her hand and Letty started squealing and rushed to hug them both. Dom sat down and rubbed his head. Mia and Kara sat down in the loveseat, stunned. "This is so great!" Letty exclaimed. "We're not moving." Sira told her. With a questioning look, Letty sat on the coffee table. "I want us to stay together and if that means making this sacrifice then so be it. Besides if you guys are still in Florida in a few years, we probably will move out there. But Sira really needs to finish out her OR rotation and later, when she's a little higher on the totem pole, she can transfer to a hospital in Miami. We've already discussed it." Vince looked at Sira and she nodded. After discussing it a little more, Dom could see that Vince's mind was made up. He couldn't blame him, Sira was a great chick and made V happier than anyone else ever had. After ordering a pizza, Dom tried talking Letty into moving again, but when Mia interrupted and pulled the 'understanding best-friend' card, Dom felt betrayed. Hello, he thought, we are supposed to convince her to move. Mia told him later that if they hadn't convinced her by now then they wouldn't be able too. All they could is hope she changed her mind.  
  
  
  
Say Goodbye 21  
  
Letty, Mia, Kara, and Sira packed up the shop on Tuesday. Topics of conversation ranged from Sira's nuptials to Kara's cohabitation with Leon, to Letty and Dom's impending breakup. The past two nights Letty and Dom had still shared a bed, but there was something else in the room with them, looming over their heads. The coming good-byes weren't going to be easy. People had already been stopping by to say good-luck and good-bye. Letty just kept up a cool front, mainly so that Mia wouldn't breakdown, because she knew she couldn't take it if that happened. "You guys have to come back for the wedding in three months. You know that right?" Sira said as she covered the register with plastic. "Of course we'll be back!" Kara said enthusiastically. "It'll be like my wedding all over again! Same people!" Mia laughed and the girls joined in. Suddenly Sira's face got very serious. "I'm really gonna miss you living behind me!" Sira started tearing up. Mia reached over and hugged her and Kara joined in. Determined not to cry, Letty went along taking down old signs that had hung in the store since she was little.  
  
"Vince, how come you never said anything 'bout proposing?" Dom asked Vince as they packed up a u-haul with auto parts. "Well, I bought the ring about two weeks ago. I just didn't know when the right time would be. Then all that Tran shit happened." Vince answered. "It just felt right, I guess." "You really want to stay?" Dom asked. "Well, I thought asking Sira to marry me would help convince her to go. You know that whole commitment thing, dawg. But she really can't leave right now and expect to have any kind of decent career. So, uh, she said no." "What! She turned you down?" Vin asked. Brian walked up with more boxes. He stopped to listen to what was going on. "Uh, yeah." "Ha! I got turned down the first time I asked Mia to marry me!" Brian started laughing. "Really? Why?" Dom asked, surprised. "Because she still had med school to finish, she didn't want to move outta the house and other little things that only Mia would think of. But we compromised and by that, I mean I did whatever she wanted." Brian laughed and continued to load stuff in the back of the U-haul. "Well, Sira didn't want to move either so she said no. Since I can't see me living in Miami without her, I told her I'd stay but only if we still got married. That got her!" Vince laughed. "I'm just happy that Kara agreed to living together." Leon walked up with a box in his hands. "Yeah, I'm so happy that your proud of the fact that you convinced my cousin into living in sin with you." Dom said. "I wouldn't talk Dom, you lived with Letty for how many years?" Brian defended. Dom put his head down. "She might still come around man." Leon patted Dom on the shoulder. "Whatever, I can't worry about that now. Gotta pack up." He got up. "God! What happened to us? We used to be studs now we're domesticated." Vince laughed. "I know!" Leon agreed. Brian nodded too. "Oh please, Brian! You were practically married from the first time you ordered a tuna sandwich!" Dom pointed out. They all laughed. "Well, when ya know, ya know!" He defended himself.  
  
Letty sat alone in the store, ready to lock it up for good. They leave tomorrow, she thought. It's already Friday and they leave tomorrow, she kept repeating in her head. Her good-bye with Mia had been so heart wrenching she didn't have enough energy to say good-bye to Dom after. Mia was like part of her, the part that was good and warm-hearted. Gone, what if they never come back, what if Brian and Mia have kids and I never see them, what if Dom meets someone else and they have kids, ohmygod, what if some other woman is the mother of Dom's kids! Letty broke down and started sobbing uncontrollably. This place will never be the same. I'll miss him in a hundred times a day in a hundred different ways, she thought. What if I don't want to survive this? After a few minutes she picked herself up and drove home.  
  
Dom sat on his stoop and thought about all the good-byes he had said this week. It was midnight and almost everything was loaded up and ready for them to leave tomorrow. Harry, Hector, and Edwin were all good friends. He just hoped that he found people as reliable and cool as they were. Dom thought about Vince, he was going to miss him a lot. They'd met in the third grade and been like brothers since. They fought but they always had each other's back. He also going to miss Sira, she was great for Vince and a good friend for the whole team. Then there was Letty. Half of him was pissed that she wasn't going, and half wanted to stay just for her. He had loved her so much for so long, he didn't know what was going to happen now that they were officially over. All his memories were tied up in her.  
  
Mia sat on the porch of Toretto house crying the next morning at dawn. Like this leaving shit doesn't already suck, Dom thought, now I got Mia, "the Miami spokeswoman", crying buckets because Letty isn't coming. Dom stepped out of the doorway and sat down next to her and she leaned into him and sobbed even harder. Then her head snapped up and she just looked at him, he could see blame and accusations in her eyes. And before he knew it she was on her feet yelling at him through her tears. He bent his head down as she told him what a shit he had been to Letty and if he had ever just treated her with the respect she deserved and committed to her then she would be here now. Adding a cheap shot about never being able to find anyone else like her ever again she stomped off and went inside. Fuck, fuck, fuck!!! Dom thought. Doesn't she understand that there's nothing left I can do, Dom wondered. He got up and went to his car, might as well close up the garage once and for all now, he figured. He drove up to DT's and found someone else had already locked it up.  
  
"Hey." Letty walked over to Dom. "Hey." He looked at her, trying to burn her image into his brain since he wasn't sure when or if he'd see her again. "I found this in the office, you almost forgot it." Letty held out a picture from Mia and Brian's wedding with the whole wedding party. "Thanks." Dom took the picture from her. "Dom, will you marry me?" Letty asked so softly that Dom didn't hear her at first. Swallowing hard, Dom asked, "What did you just say?" "Will you marry me?" Letty said in a more audible voice. "What?!" Dom's face lit up to biggest smile Letty had ever seen and she couldn't help but laugh. "Dominic Toretto! Don't you know a proposal when you see one." Letty held out a black velvet ring box and lightly tossed it to him, even though he was only three feet away. He opened it to see a delicate, beautiful diamond ring inside. He looked down at her. "What? I proposed, isn't that enough? I'm moving with you to some godforsaken place! I'm not gonna buy you a ring too!" Letty exclaimed. Dom took the ring out of the box and Letty held her left hand out and he slipped it on. "Imagine that. It fits." He said and smiled. "I guess that means yes." She took the box and tossed it over her shoulder. He picked her up into a loving hug and whispered yes. 


End file.
